Are Girls Growing Up Too Fast?

Walk through any mall and you're bound to see them - slinky young fashion slaves with bare midriffs and major attitude. They move in packs or two or more, often talking on cell phones or texting on PDAs. They cringe in front of mirrors, fretting endlessly about acne and their weight.

But these hormona Drama Queens aren't yet teenagers. In another era, they'd be called pre-pubescent. Twenty years ago, you might have seen them cruising the neighborhood on their bikes, hair askew, oblivious to most things outside their immediate orbit.

Today, these girs often seem to be 10 going on 15 years old. And it's not just because doting boomer parents upply the cell phones and iPods. The girls comprise a lucrative consumer group that marketers have dubbed tweens.

But underneath the Raven - Lindsay - inspired couture, female physical development seems to have accelerated right along with their sequined wardrobes. They need bras and deodorant by the fourth grade, tops.

The Develpment Debate

For the past decade, the medical community has been beset by questions about whether or not the onset of puberty in girls really does begin earlier than in previous generations. Read more