I'm no biologist, but I have thoughts on why this appears to happen more than it use to.
It is my understanding that young women begin puberty and menstruation once they reach a certain bodyweight, around 90-100 lbs., because before then they are physically unable to support a fetus.
Therefore, if a girl reaches that magic weight at 11, she will physically develop faster than a gymnast that doesn't reach the magic weight until 17.
Add in foods that are fortified and enriched with all sorts of vitamins and minerals that weren't so readily available 50-100 years ago. Americans are well fed, which leads to the second part.
Remember the chesty girls in middle school? What did they look like by graduation? Less defined, more rotund perhaps? Because of the patterns of behavior plastered on posters as the Obesity Epidemic, girls reach the target weight earlier due to less than ideal eating & exercise habits, which makes them fill out faster.
As I said, I'm no scientist, but this all makes more sense than a bunch of magazine covers resulting in bigger breasts. After all, Jayne Mansfield and her twins didn't have any such benefit. Women today seem less shapely than they did pre-Twiggy.
_________________ A poet and philosopher, Mr. Marcus is married and is a proud parent.
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