Q&A – Why Does Puberty Hit Earlier In Children Than Earlier?

Evolution – Right in Front of You…

We have often spoken about how newborns these days are different from what they were a generation back. Some of the things that I have heard from my elders relate to things like:

• These days children are born with open eyes but that was not the case some years back. A child was born with closed eyes and then they would open after a few days.
• Children were born earlier with closed fists and it was only after a couple of weeks that these would open on their own

In addition to this, you only have to talk to the mother of a teenager and you will know how puberty seems to set in a few years earlier with each generation. While the naming of teens may have been defined based on the numbers ‘thirteen’ and ‘nineteen’, the onset of puberty seems to start much before that.

Some Background

Many aspects of how women have evolved over the years are based on the need of the child. For instance, women are statistically more anxious and prone to negative emotions than men. This is mainly because women are physically smaller with lower upper body strengths, sexually more vulnerable and need to take care of children. Therefore, they have neural structures that make them more fearful and anxious. The propensity towards negative thought allows them to always be careful of any impending threat.

The amount of time that a human child needs nurturing (as against other mammals) is extremely high. This is the price that humans have paid for the cognitive evolution of humans, where the brain is proportionately large and therefore needs a lot of nutrition and growth, compromising on the other motor development. The role of women and even their neural structures (and therefore personality) has developed over thousands of years because of these aspects.

The Times Are a Changing

The manner in which changes are taking place in society has not led to a change in the physical strength of the woman. However, the aspect of sexual vulnerability has been tackled adequately with the creation of the birth control pill and other pregnancy prevention products. There is also a lot of noise with regards to gender equality in all spheres of life, particularly so in the corporate sectors. Women are becoming more competitive in what was earlier known as the man’s area of expertise.

So my Thought

Are these changes in society and the thinking patterns of women leading the way towards a quicker and faster growth in children? The changes include the desire for women to be more physically independent, the ability to avoid a pregnancy, the tools to save themselves from physical harm (aka guns) and the ability to use formulas for newborns (and not breastfeed).

Are these changes the reasons why the human child is touching puberty much faster than earlier? One case in point is the fact that this is a phenomenon seen more conspicuously in developed societies and the upper echelons of the developing countries!

Just a thought – munch over it and share your thoughts!