BODY TALK: Growing up too quickly.. We investigate why more and more children are going through puberty shockingly early...

Byline: HELEN CARROLL

AT the age of seven, young girls should be revelling in the innocence of childhood. Yet many are now experiencing the psychological and physical upheaval of puberty instead.

And it seems watching TV may be the cause.

The change is occuring earlier than ever. In 1990, girls were entering puberty at the age of eight. Now, according to expert Professor Roberto Salti, many are entering it a year earlier, with boys following at age eight.

He led recent research at the University of Florence, which seemed to suggest that watching too much TV can push a child into early puberty.

Kids denied access to the telly for just a week experienced a 30 per cent jump in levels of melatonin, the hormone thought to prevent the early onset of puberty.

The researchers believe the light and radiation given off by screens disturbs production of melatonin.

Although some have dismissed the report, others claim it goes some way toward explaining why "precocious puberty" is on the increase throughout the Western world.

"Exposure to television and computer screens may be a factor," confirms Prof Salti. "There is a big difference between the children of today and those of 30 years ago.

"Today they spend a lot of hours - five or six a day in some cases - in front of the TV."

Tam Fry, chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, urges any parent who suspects their child is experiencing premature sexual maturation to seek medical advice immediately.

"It is important to rule out any serious underlying cause, such as a tumour, which is more common in boys with this condition," he says.

"With the correct medication it is also possible to turn off the tap of the sex hormones and put puberty on ice.

"The treatment can be stopped as soon as the child reaches a normal age for puberty, without any long-term damage being caused."

Here, two mothers of girls who went through puberty incredibly early tell their shocking stories...

WHAT IS PRECOCIOUS PUBERTY?

IT'S the onset of the signs of puberty before age seven in girls and age nine in boys. In girls, these include the development of breasts or pubic hair, or starting to have periods.

For boys, the signs to look out for are pubic or facial hair, a deepening of the voice or enlargement of the penis or testicles.

Because bones stop growing after puberty, if it goes untreated boys typically grow no taller than 5ft 4ins and girls rarely reach 5ft.

What causes it?

Puberty is triggered by the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland near the base of the brain.

Sometimes precocious puberty stems from a structural problem in the brain, such as a tumour, or a problem in the ovaries.

But in 95 per cent of girls there is no underlying medical problem or known reason for starting puberty too early.

Among boys, the condition is less common and sometimes caused by a hormone-producing tumour in the pituitary gland.

How common is it?

There are no figures, partly because some parents don't seek medical help, though statistics show that more young girls - aged eight or nine - are starting their periods than in previous generations.

How is it treated?

To test for precocious puberty, a doctor usually orders blood and urine tests to check for raised levels of sex hormones. X-rays of the wrist and hand will also show if the bones are maturing too rapidly.

Scans can help rule out specific causes, such as tumours.

Once diagnosed, the goal is to halt or even reverse sexual development and stop the rapid growth which leads to shortness in adulthood.

This can be done by changing the child's hormone balance with medication called LHRH analogs.

These are synthetic hormones which interfere with those causing the child to mature too soon. Dramatic results are usually seen within a year of starting treatment.

In girls, breasts may become smaller and pubic hair fall out. At the least, there will be no further development. Once the child is ready to go through puberty treatment is stopped.

For further information, send an SAE requesting a booklet on precocious puberty to: The Child Growth Foundation, 2 Mayfield Avenue, London, W4 1PW.

My daughter grew breasts when she was five years old

Bernie Tedds, 40, and her husband Simon, 34, live in Norwich. Their daughter Harley, now six, started going through puberty two years ago. Bernie says...

Harley had been experiencing mood swings for several months when the nurse at our local health centre noticed she was developing breasts.

Until then I had put her tantrums down to childish fits of temper and the flab around her chest to her having recently put on weight. But the nurse alerted our GP, who told me that she suspected Harley had a condition called precocious puberty.

Six months later, following blood tests to check her hormone levels and a scan of Harley's ovaries, a consultant at our local hospital confirmed the diagnosis.

There were cysts on her ovaries - harmless things which usually develop at the onset of puberty.

Nobody could explain why it had happened but we were warned that without medical intervention, her periods would soon start and she would rapidly go through puberty.

The drug which would postpone Harley's adolescence is called Zoladex, usually prescribed for men with prostate cancer.

And while effective in some ways, it has by no means calmed all her symptoms.

I have two other daughters, Kerry, 17, and Zoe, 16, so it's now like having three hormonal teenagers in the house.

Harley regularly flies into a temper, kicking doors and screaming and shouting at me, her dad and sisters. Because of her age, Harley is also more irrational than my elder daughters.

For instance, if we argue about something she will flounce off to her room and play her music full blast.

I'll follow her and turn it down, threatening to take her stereo or TV away if she turns it back up.

But instead of taking notice of me, as the older girls would, she says: "I don't care, I'll smash it up anyway."

Harley has to have the last word in every argument so it's a struggle to handle her properly.

The condition has also made her grow much bigger than other children her age.

She is now 4ft, wears clothes for 15-year-olds and weighs seven stone - nearly as much as Zoe.

Like a teenage girl, Harley also loves experimenting with make-up and spends hours in her bedroom.

Her walls are plastered with posters of her idol, pop star Peter Andre, while her classmates are still playing with Barbie dolls.

We've been told to expect the medication to take effect and her moods to calm within the next year.

And Harley will keep having the three-monthly injections until she reaches 13 and is finally ready to go through puberty.

But we can't reverse the development which has already taken place.

So in the meantime Harley will have to put up with stares from people who think we're over-feeding her or tolerating behaviour which is completely inappropriate in a child her size.

For her sake, I wish people would ask why she's so different from other girls her

age rather than simply judging her for something that she can't control.

Our baby started to sprout pubic hair at 20 months

Maria and Steven Williams, both 38, live in Birmingham. Their daughter Jane, now eight, started going through puberty before her second birthday. Maria says...

Jane was four months short of her second birthday when I noticed she was developing breasts. I was breastfeeding our younger daughter Elizabeth, who was just a few weeks old, and wondered if Jane had been affected by the hormones I was secreting.

However, I was shocked to notice a few days later that Jane had grown three pubic hairs. I whizzed her to our GP who assured me there was nothing to worry about. But I'm a health visitor and knew that what was happening was far from normal.

Over the next week, I was horrified to see her breasts getting bigger and more pubic hair developing.

We insisted on a referral to Great Ormond Street children's hospital where she was subjected to blood tests and scans.

Eventually, we were told that she had a non-malignant tumour on her pituitary gland.

It had caused her to enter puberty way too early and, without intervention, would mean that her periods would start when she was three years old.

Additionally, although she was tall for her age, her bones would fuse and she would fail to reach a normal adult height.

The prospect of what the future might hold for her was terrifying.

So when the hospital consultant suggested we try Prostap - traditionally used to treat male prostate cancer but useful in cases like Jane's - we didn't hesitate.

While it wouldn't cure her symptoms completely it would, he said, keep the full onslaught at bay.

Over the months that followed Jane's behaviour was very trying.

As well as experiencing tantrums her hormones caused teenage-style mood swings and made it impossible to reason with her. She'd throw herself on the floor, screaming, if she didn't get her own way.

It was very hard coming to terms with my beautiful toddler becoming a teen nightmare. She still suffers terrible mood swings and flounces off to her bedroom claiming nobody loves her, especially when her Prostap injection is due.

And her breasts and height make her look years older than her school friends.

But when her classmates begin going through puberty in a couple of years, we'll stop the injections and Jane can develop normally.

In the meantime, we tell her that she's growing up like all little girls do, only she's doing it earlier.

We're conscious that she could be teased for being different and want it to be something that she can be proud of.

Precocious puberty has made for a difficult childhood but, thankfully, in the long-term, Jane will look and feel just like any other girl.

CAPTION(S):

TEEN TANTRUMS: Harley Tedds is an emotional six-year-old who acts just like a teenager; SHOCK: Jane Williams as a toddler