Jennifer Benton’s daughter was just 5 years old when her kindergarten teacher pointed out something unusual: the young girl was developing breasts.
It was 2019 and the little girl loved playing with dolls, going out for ice cream, and watching her favorite Nick Jr. cartoon, “Bubble Guppies.” At the teacher’s suggestion, Benton, 29, took the girl to see her local doctor in Ashtabula, Ohio.
At the time, Benton had never heard of precocious puberty. Having grown up in the Black community, where early puberty rates are among the highest in the U.S., Benton had known 7- and 8-year-old girls who’d had their periods or needed bras. But nobody in Benton’s family realized there was an actual medical diagnosis, or that prescription hormone treatments called puberty blockers could help slow the physical changes, if needed.
“Girls were just called ‘fast’ or ‘too mature for their age,’” Benton said. “I now understand they were struggling with precocious puberty.”
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With puberty beginning at younger ages, especially among young Black girls, doctors say there’s an urgent need for greater awareness and education among families who may face hurdles in access to diagnosis and medical care.
In a 2022 article in the journal Pediatrics, researchers warned that biases in early puberty care had tremendous implications for the physical and emotional health of Black children.
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