One in six girls in Britain is reaching puberty by the age of eight compared with one in 100 a generation ago, according to a study which found that girls are capable of becoming pregnant while at primary school.
The research, which tracked 14,000 children in the former Avon area of western England from birth, also found that one in 14 boys aged eight had pubic hair, an early indicator of puberty, compared with one in 150 of their fathers' generation. This may lead to a fundamental review of the way parents, teachers and policymakers deal with childhood and adolescence.
Ms Marcia Herman-Gidden, a paediatrician who made similar discoveries in a survey of 17,000 children in the US in 1997, believes the studies prove that society is not to blame for over-sexualisation of children.
"This is proof that children are programmed to be sexual at a time when society still considers them to be very young," she said. "We have a very different situation now from that which existed in the past and it is fraught with dangers." The study will be featured in Channel 4's Generation Sex series on June 27th.