Puberty in American girls is starting earlier than ever—and some moms aren’t waiting around to see what that means for their daughters.
Rebecca Kinderman is just one who’s doing everything in her power to try and delay her daughters’—aged 10 and 12—first periods. Her Instagram reel (@bec_kinderman) on the subject had received 1.6 million views and and over 57,000 likes across the platform at the time of writing.
For the Gold Coast mom, this has meant overhauling everything from her family’s diet to screen time.
“I believe that if we can delay this part of ‘growing up,’ especially when their brains are not developed enough to be able to handle everything that they could be exposed to online, we are allowing our girls to stay young for longer,” the 36-year-old told Newsweek.
Indeed, data shows the average age for a girl’s first period is now just 11.9 years, with 16 percent starting before age 11 in the United States.
What is even more alarming about starting your period early is the increased risk of hormone-related cancers later in life. For instance, girls who start their period before age 12 have a 23 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer compared to those who start at 15. Additionally, early menarche has been linked to increased risks of endometrial and ovarian cancers.
But it wasn’t always like this. Elena Bridgers (@elena.bridgers), a science writer who specializes in maternal wellness and mental health, explained in a recent reel on Instagram that girls in hunter-gatherer societies often started their periods as late as 17 and began proper ovulation around 19.
“For millions of years, women’s brains and bodies went through the emotional turmoil of adolescence before we actually hit reproductive puberty, but modern teens have to deal with painful periods, the risk of getting pregnant, and sometimes actually getting pregnant well before their brains and bodies are actually mature enough,” Bridgers said in her now viral clip.
This trend suggests an “evolutionary mismatch” adds Bridgers, with modern teens facing reproductive challenges before they are emotionally and physically mature.
“Early onset of menarche is associated with higher risk of miscarriage, more menstrual cramping, more painful and irregular periods, higher risk of preterm delivery, reproductive cancers, anxiety and depression,” Bridgers told Newsweek.
“We are not sure whether early onset of menarche causes these things, or whether there is a third explanatory variable, like obesity, that causes both early onset of menarche and puts girls at higher risk for depression. But, on the whole, I think we can safely say that starting your period too early is not a good thing.”
Evidence suggests that some of the leading contributing factors to early menarche—the age at which a girl starts her period—are in fact environmental, including stress, psychological factors and diet-related.
With this in mind, Kinderman is raising her daughters as holistically as possible.
“We are very focused on raising our kids with as much of a holistic approach as we can,” she said. “This includes no personal devices for any of them, and certainly no access to social media and the internet.”
The family eats mostly organic and removes pesticide residue from fruit and vegetables. Kinderman explained that there are no toxic chemicals in the house either.
“We make our own perfumes using essential oils,” she told Newsweek. “This age is really big for girls wanting to smell pretty and unfortunately perfumes are a cocktail of hormone-disrupting chemicals.”
Meanwhile mom of two daughters—7 and 4—Nicky Skinner has taken similar steps to delay her own daughters’ first periods.
On her Instagram page (@nourished_and_vibrant), Skinner, from New Zealand, raises awareness that girls are starting their periods earlier than ever. Her recent reel on the topic, which had clocked up 8 million views at the time of writing, provides a list of reasons why other moms may want to join her on her mission.
But while delaying first menses is her goal, it’s not about artificially manipulating natural development, she told Newsweek.
“It’s about creating an environment that doesn’t bring the period on prematurely,” she said. “It’s about an awareness that girls are starting to ovulate earlier, knowing that comes with risk, so doing what I can to ensure the environmental factors I can control as a mother—knowing there’s a lot I can’t control—are not impacting my girls’ health in a negative way.”
Indeed, the two moms are part of a growing group of parents rethinking early puberty and how modern life may influence when a girl has her first period. And the subject is gaining traction with with experts too.
Lara Briden, a doctor of naturopathic medicine with almost 30 years of experience in women’s health, notes that very early menarche—before age 8—is considered abnormal and warrants medical attention.
“But even early menarche—before age 11—is not ideal,” Briden told Newsweek. “From a health [and] biology perspective, early female puberty and menarche are also associated with a greater risk for insulin resistance, PCOS [polycystic ovary syndrome], and breast cancer later in life.
“Importantly, the early menarche may not directly cause those long-term health risks. Rather, it may simply be another manifestation or complication of the metabolic dysfunction (high insulin) that drives all the downstream health risks.”
Briden, who is also the author of Period Repair Manual, said that the timing of female puberty is significantly influenced by food supply and environmental factors, leading to variations throughout human history.
She said that during periods of scarcity, puberty tends to be delayed. Meanwhile in times of abundance, it generally occurs earlier—adding that male puberty is not as sensitive to food supply.
“The modern trend toward earlier menarche is, in part, a biological response to more reliable nutrition, which is a good thing,” Briden said. “But it has also coincided with an alarming rise in metabolic dysfunction (insulin resistance), which now affects people across all ages. It’s not just that metabolic problems are increasing. They’re also amplifying in severity, and that’s happening across generations because of epigenetics.”
@bec_kinderman
So, is it any wonder that moms doing everything they can to delay their daughters’ first period to prevent the associated risks?
Of course, Kinderman and Skinner acknowledge that, while moms can try their best to do everything they can to delay their daughters’ first periods, there is no guarantee.
“It’s important to remember that genetics play a big part in this, too,” Skinner said. “If mother got her period early, even if you do everything ‘right,’ the daughter may still menstruate earlier, too. There need be no shame or guilt around this.”
Bridgers said that genetic factors at play and even environmental factors can be very hard to control, and warns that setting a goal to delay a girl’s menarche can cause shame and failure for both parents and girls, and may lead to unhealthy parenting practices.
“I do think, however, that parents should do their best to make sure their children are eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of outdoor exercise,” Bridgers said. “We know this will be good for them anyway.”
Bridgers advised limiting sugars and processed foods, ensuring they have plenty of time outside and away from screens and avoiding heavy use of personal care products with known endocrine disrupters.
Briden said that, while something can be done, the goal shouldn’t be to delay menarche.
“It’s not about restriction or micromanaging childhood, and certainly not about calorie restriction for kids,” she said, adding that she doesn’t believe Skinner or Kinderman are suggesting this. “Instead, it’s about trying to create or restore a food environment that allows normal human female physiology to unfold.”
Both Kinderman and Skinner are also advocates of open conversation around periods with their daughters.
Kinderman told Newsweek that she is always been open with her girls about their cycles and puberty.
“My hopes are that, when it does happen, it will be a really positive experience for them,” she said. “There won’t be any fear or uncertainty. I’ve heard too many women share that they weren’t prepared for it, mothers never talked about it or talked very little about it, and they got it young and felt scared. My hopes are that my girls feel excited for the day and will be celebrated when it happens.”