American parents and doctors were shocked when a study reported a decade ago that American girls were beginning at ages as early as 7. A new study has now reported that the average age for white and Latina girls to begin puberty may reduce even more.

The paper is published in the journal Pediatrics and says that 25 percent of African American girls have reached the stage of puberty with the beginning of breast development by age 7.

As compared to the year 1997 these percentages are much higher. A report then suggested that girls were beginning puberty at much younger ages than they did in the mid-20th century. About 5 percent white girls were reaching puberty at age 7 in the year 1997 as compared to 10.4 percent in the new study.

Dr. Frank M. Biro, director of adolescent medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the lead author of the new study said, “In 1997, people said, 'That can't be right; there must be something wrong with the study, but the average age is going down even further.”