Kolkata: Girls in cities reach puberty earlier

Prithvijit Mitra
[ 6 Sep, 2006 0258hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

KOLKATA: Girl, you'll be a woman soon, sang Neil Diamond. In India, the 'soon' has just got 'sooner'. Across cities and towns, girls are reaching puberty faster than before.

The age of attaining sexual maturity among girls in urban India has dropped to 11 from 13. The reverse is true in rural India, where girls are reaching puberty even later than 13.

These are the results of a first-of-its-kind survey being conducted by the Federation of Obstetrics' and Gynaecologists' Society of India (FOGSI).

"So far we had accepted the global average (around 13 years). But we always felt the age could be different in India and that it has dropped, especially in cities.

So, this survey is an important one, for it also reveals that girls are becoming sexually active earlier than before," said Dr Duru Shah, all-India president of FOGSI.

More than 80% of the girls in cities are reaching puberty around age 11, indicates the survey that is being carried out in 100 centres — both urban and rural — across four regions.

The procedure involves distributing questionnaires among college students in cities and young girls in rural areas. The federation is yet to analyse the feedback, which is still coming in. But the initial reports have already set them thinking.

"We are yet to collate and study the responses, but the information collected so far is quite enlightening. It seems the average age of puberty in cities has come down to 11. This could be one of the reasons why girls are now becoming sexually active earlier than before," explained Dr Shah.

According to the experts, there could be several reasons behind this drop: better nutrition, changing hormonal patterns, new food habits, genetic factors, environmental changes and upbringing.

"This is a sign of prosperity, though there are other factors as well. In rural areas, the age has gone up marginally, which indicates that health has deteriorated. But we will have a better idea when the survey is complete, hopefully by year-end," said Ashis Mukhopadhyay, state vice-president of FOGSI.

The federation, though, is more worried about the fallout of this change. It believes more young girls are now exposed to sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS.

It has, therefore, stepped up its awareness campaign on women's sexual health and extended it to schools.

"This is a race against time. Our aim is to reach out to as many youngsters as possible. That is why we are trying to build a network of school teachers who will play a key role in the campaign," said Mukhopadhyay.