Our Daughters are Growing Up Too Fast:

Dr. Jamal H. Bryant, Our Daughters Are In Danger

Health

U.S. girls are hitting puberty earlier, and childhood obesity may be a culprit: study

The average age of puberty has dropped several months since the 1990s to just under nine years old for African American girls and nine and a half for white girls, according to a new study published in Pediatrics. Researchers found that girls who weighed more started developing breasts earlier.

REUTERS

 

Monday, November 4, 2013, 12:46 PM

YELLOW DOG PRODUCTIONS/GETTY IMAGESDiet, exercise and environmental factors all influence when girls enter puberty, according to researchers.

Girls are developing breasts at younger and younger ages, a new study confirms. And upward trends in childhood obesity seem to be playing a major role.

Researchers found African American girls started getting breasts just before they turned nine, on average. Among white girls the average age was about nine and a half - a few months earlier than in the 1990s.

The findings "confirm an ongoing downward trend in pubertal timing among U.S. girls," said Dr. Anders Juul.

"It's been worrying for the U.S. as well as the rest of the world," Juul said. He heads the Department of Growth and Reproduction at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, and wasn't involved in the new report.

The data come from a long-term study of more than 1,200 girls in and around San Francisco, Cincinnati and New York City. Girls were enrolled in the study between ages six and eight and followed with annual or semi-annual visits.

At each visit, staff assessed breast development using Tanner stages, which measure how far along a young person is in puberty.

African American girls first showed signs of breast development at eight years, 10 months, on average. That compared to nine years, four months among Hispanic girls and nine years, eight months among white and Asian girls.

For white girls, puberty hit about four months earlier than in a 1997 study that also measured breast development. That study concluded girls were entering puberty earlier than in the past.

Heavier girls tended to start developing at younger ages. Rising obesity rates seem to be a "prime driver" behind breast development starting earlier, Dr. Frank Biro and his colleagues wrote Monday in Pediatrics.

Still, Juul's own work has suggested obesity isn't behind earlier breast development among Danish girls.

Researchers said how much exercise girls get, diabetes precursors and chemicals in the environment that can mimic hormones may all play a role in pushing up the onset of puberty.

"One of our challenges is going to be, there are literally hundreds of chemicals that could be candidates," Biro said. He works in the adolescent medicine division at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio.

Where girls live, meat and dairy in their diets and family stress have also been tied to earlier development, Marcia Herman-Giddens wrote in a commentary on the report. She studies maternal and child health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study didn't look at when girls started getting their periods, or at other measures of puberty.

The researchers said maturing at a younger age could come with long-term risks for some girls.

For instance, those who hit puberty earlier could be at higher risk of breast and other cancers because their bodies spend more years making and being exposed to estrogen.

They also tend to start having sex or using drugs and alcohol at younger ages and are more likely to become depressed or develop low self-esteem.

"You've got a 10-year-old who looks like a 14-year-old. We interact with kids based on the way that they look," Biro said. "Kids interact with each other that way also."

"One of the things the parents of these early maturing kids need to do is they need to monitor them more closely," he told Reuters Health. That includes talking about sex earlier.

But Juul said parents shouldn't be overly worried. The data about early puberty and problems down the line come from studies that asked women when they first got their period, he said.

That typically happens two to four years after breasts start developing. And it's unclear whether that age is dropping at the same pace as the age of breast development, Juul said.

"I think the scary part is not (for) the actual girl, because we don't know what it means for her," he told Reuters Health. "It is a warning that something is influencing our child population and it calls for concern and continued studies."

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 WHY GIRLS ARE ENTERING PUBERTY EARLY

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The Grand Finale: Step into the Next Dimension!

POWERFUL QUOTES FROM THE VIDEO: 

"Step into the next dimension!"

1. "Information means nothing without revelation!"
2. " Doesn't matter what you're current position is..... You can be in the same spot but in the next dimension.... You may be may be in the same situation but be a different person." 
3. ".....That was then and this is now... what you use to need you no longer need, because you are working in a new dimension....You can't use your old tools in your new dimension. 

"I wanna talk to the women in this room who are called to go into the next dimension!"

1. "Everything you saw me do before was preparing me for where I am right now..."
2. "There is nothing worst than being in the next dimension and people are holding you to how you were when they first met you." 
3. "When you ride into something old, you have to ride in on a colt.... when you ride into something new you have to ride in on a cloud."
4. "You can't use your old tools in your new dimension....What use to work won't work in this dimension...After you have been through your death, burial, and resurrection,you may be in the same place, but you are in the next dimension..."
5. "You didn't go through all the hell you went through, just to operate where you use to operate... you may be in the same place, but you are in a next dimension. "
6. "....If ye then be risen with Christ, set your affections on things that are above....stop wanting colts when God has clouds!: 
7. "Allow God lead you in the new dimension... He'll lead you into a new way of thinking, a new way of doing things, into a new attitude...."
8. In the new dimension God can show you things that he couldn't show you before... when you are a child you have to think as a child, you had to speak as a child to understand a child...but when you become... you can put away child things..." 
9. If you praise him more, he will bless him more.... this is a cycle!!"

Should Black Men Marry?

Published on Oct 18, 2013

Timbaland's wife wants child support for a child that isn't his. Now Black men are saying "I don't want to get married OR have kids". TBA explains why this response is wrong, the REAL reason Timbaland ended up in this situation and what Black men REALLY need to do to be smart about love, sex, marriage and divorce.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? 

True Ethereal Beauty: A Black Woman Defining Herself!

Oscar Winner Lupita Nyong'o Speech on Black Beauty Essence Black Women In Hollywood Award

TRANSCRIPT: 

I received a letter from a girl and I’d like to share just a small part of it with you: "Dear Lupita," it reads, "I think you’re really lucky to be this Black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia’s Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me."

My heart bled a little when I read those words. I could never have guessed that my first job out of school would be so powerful in and of itself and that it would propel me to be such an image of hope in the same way that the women of The Color Purple were to me.

I remember a time when I too felt unbeautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned. The morning would come and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of a mirror because I wanted to see my fair face first. And every day I experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as I had been the day before. I tried to negotiate with God: I told him I would stop stealing sugar cubes at night if he gave me what I wanted; I would listen to my mother's every word and never lose my school sweater again if he just made me a little lighter. But I guess God was unimpressed with my bargaining chips because He never listened.

And when I was a teenager my self-hate grew worse, as you can imagine happens with adolescence. My mother reminded me often that she thought that I was beautiful but that was no consolation: She’s my mother, of course she’s supposed to think I am beautiful. And then Alek Wek came on the international scene. A celebrated model, she was dark as night, she was on all of the runways and in every magazine and everyone was talking about how beautiful she was. Even Oprah called her beautiful and that made it a fact. I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a woman who looked so much like me as beautiful. My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome and all of a sudden, Oprah was telling me it wasn’t. It was perplexing and I wanted to reject it because I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy. But a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me. When I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny. Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty, but around me the preference for light skin prevailed. To the beholders that I thought mattered, I was still unbeautiful. And my mother again would say to me, "You can’t eat beauty. It doesn’t feed you." And these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be.

And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul. It is what got Patsey in so much trouble with her master, but it is also what has kept her story alive to this day. We remember the beauty of her spirit even after the beauty of her body has faded away.

And so I hope that my presence on your screens and in the magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. There is no shade to that beauty.

There may be small errors in this transcript

Who Is Really Your Friend?

Three Types of Friends, by Bishop T.D. Jakes

"To be covered by God and walk in the area of your destiny, you can't be limited to just working with people who look like you, think like you, vote like you, or dress like you...You have to step outside of the box, because God will use many different people to bless you, and move you forward. You can't be limited and one dimensional; this is a coat of many colors....It is not the colors you need to watch it is the character."

Three Basic Categories Of People "A Child of Destiny" will Interact With: 

1. Confidants: There will be very few of these people, They will love you unconditionally, whether you are up or down, right or wrong. "You will never inherit your kingdom without finding your confidant.., You can't be David without finding your Jonathon..." Having a good confidant is the key that unlocks the gate to the kingdom. You were raised outside of the gate and God is going to require that you reach on the other side of the gate and find a confidant who will mentor you, and prepare you for what God is about to do in your life. Don't be the person who always deal with people beneath you!

2. Constituents: "They are not into you, they are into what are for... If they meet someone else who will further their agenda, they will leave you, because they were not for you, they were for what you were for.... Be careful, if you are broken, you may mistake your constituent for you confidants!" 

3. Conrads: They are not for you, or what you are for; they are against what you are against. "They make strange bedfellows..." They will team up with you to fight a greater enemy, but will be there only until the victory is accomplished.... These people are like scaffolding; they come into your life to help fulfill a purpose, and when that purpose is over the scaffolding is removed."  Don't be upset, the building always remains when the scaffolding is removed! 

Don't Tell Your Dream to Just Anyone!

The constituents and the conrads are not meant to be in you life forever.... "Be careful then who you tell your dream to... if you tell your dream to your constituent they will will desert you and try to fulfill the dream without you... Don't tell your dream to your conrads, because they will not support you; they were never really for yo in the first place. 

How to Identify Who is REALLY for You: 

They will wept for you when you wept and they will rejoice with you when you rejoice!!!!! Are they really happy for you? 

The Struggle: Black Men and Women Defining Their Own Self Image..... It's Time to Speak LIFE!

Click Here: Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll

Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll

This Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 6 to Nov. 2, 2011, among a random national sample of 1,936 adults, including users of both conventional and cellular phones. The full sample includes additional interviews with randomly selected African Americans, for a total of 808 black women and 301 black men. The added interviews (commonly referred to as an “oversample”) were completed to ensure there were enough respondents for separate analysis; the group is not over-represented in the reported results. The results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; error margins are five points for African American women, eight points for African American men, 5.5 points for white women and 6.5 points for white men. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS) of Media, Pa.

*= less than 0.5 percent

According to the Results of the Poll,Which Topic(s) Strike/Surprise/Intrigue You Most? 

Let's Talk... Leave a Comment!

The Struggles: It's All About Perception: Is Your Outlook On Life Built On a Shaky Foundation?

 Is Preconception Reality or Nah? 

We spend years living our lives based on what our mother, father, grandma, uncle and aunt taught us. We sometime latch onto a "truth" that our eleven year old best friend instilled in us back in the day.... After sitting in front of the television for hours or isolating all sound except for that of our favorite modern music in our ear plugs all day, we become conditioned to believe many warped ideas are the norm... These "truths" become a philosophical foundation on which we boldly stand  in our everyday life.

Are We a Product of Our Environment? What Does that Say About the Truths on Which We So Boldly Stand? What we think affects what we view the world, or at least, how we interpret what we see. Many things mold the way that we perceive the world. Our life experiences-struggle, lavish lifestyle, extensive travel, isolation etc-, our family, our culture, or education level, our religious beliefs, etc...All of these different aspects of life come together and intertwine with our daily life situations. No wonder our individual  reaction to situations are so different! In addition, social norm and social conventions are constantly changing-not always in a good way.- It's mind blowing to think that those things that were once inconceivable to say or do may at some point becomes "the norm".  Let's take a look at some extremely warped "social norms."

Women Calling Themselves and Other Women "Bitch"

The increasing use of “bitch” among women makes it harder to see "links  between the word and patriarchy. In pop culture and in everyday life, men and women use “bitch” as an epithet against women (and non-conventional men) as well as a means of expressing dominance over a person or object. Women who “reclaim” the term—by declaring themselves “bitches,” calling other women “bitches” in a friendly way, or using the term as a female-based generic—unwittingly reinforce sexism. Unlike the term “feminist,” which is tied to a movement for social change, “bitch” provides women only with false power, challenging neither men nor patriarchy.

Increasing Amounts of Derogatory Language and Sexual Exploitation in Music and Videos 

Misogyny in hip hop culture refers to lyrics, videos or other aspects of hip hop culture that support, glorify, justify, or normalize the objectification, exploitation, or victimization of women. It can rangerom innuendoes to stereotypical characterizations and defamations.^[2] Scholars have proposed various explanation for the presence of misogyny in hip hop culture. Some have argued that rap artists use misogynistic lyrics and portrayals as a way to assert their masculinity^[2] or to demonstrate their authenticity as rappers.^[3][4] Others have suggested that rap music is a product of its environment, reflecting mainstream attitudes toward women,^[5][6][7] and that hip hop artists have internalized negative stereotypes about women.^[2] Still other academics have stressed economic considerations, arguing that rappers use misogyny to achieve commercial success.^[2]

Content analyses have found that approximately 22% to 37% of rap lyrics contain some misogyny, depending on subgenre.^[8][9][10] Individual artists have been shown to use such lyrics more frequently. Eminem, for example, used misogyny in eleven of the 14 songs on his third studio album.^[8] Common misogynistic themes include the use of derogatory names such as "bitch" and "ho", sexual objectification of women, legitimation of violence against women, distrust of women, and the glorification of prostitution and pimping.^[11]

 Responses to misogyny in hip hop music have ranged from criticism by women's rights activists, student protests and organized campaigns to a 2007 congressional hearing.^[12]Female rap artists have used their music or started organizations to explicitly oppose hip hop misogyny^[13] or expressed resistance by using self-empowering lyrics and adopting an independent woman persona.^[14] By contrast, some female rap artists do not actively resist misogynistic portrayals.^[14]

Increasing Level of Violence in Video Games

 Video game controversies are societal and scientific arguments about whether or not the content of video games can change the behavior and attitudes of a player. Since the early 1980s, advocates of video games have emphasized their use as an expressive medium, arguing for their protection under the laws governing freedom of speech and also as an educational tool. Detractors argue that video games are harmful and therefore should be subject to legislative oversight and restrictions. The positive and negative characteristics and effects of video games are the subject of scientific study. Results of investigations into links between video games and addiction, aggression, violence,social development, and a variety of stereotyping and sexual morality issues are debated.^[1]

Increasing Amount of Violence, Derogatory Language, and Sexual Exploitation in Movies

 Researchers have presented a model hypothesizing indirect effects of media sexual violence on aggression against women. It suggests that certain cultural factors (including mass media) and individual variables interact to affect some people's thought patterns and other responses that may lead to antisocial behavior, including aggression. Two streams of current research are relevant to the model. The first shows connections between exposure to sexually violent media and the development of thought patterns that support violence against women. The second reveals links between such patterns and various forms of antisocial behavior in the laboratory and in naturalistic settings. Suggestions for further research are discussed.

Increasing Amounts of School Aged Violence

Overall, youth violence in the United States has increased at an alarming rate in the last fifteen years. Homicide has become the second leading cause of death for persons aged 15 to 24, and the leading cause of death for African-Americans in this age group. Between 1985 and 1994, annual arrest rates for weapons carrying for youth under 18 years of age increased 104%¹.
Yet little of the violence reported for children and youth occurs in school; nor does national data show that the problem is getting worse². Less than one percent of homicides and suicides among schoolchildren in the period from 1992 to 1994 were school-associated. With a school homicide rate of less than one in a million, the chances of violent death among juveniles are almost 40 times as great out of school as in school. While shocking and senseless shootings give the impression of dramatic increases in school-related violence, national surveys consistently find that school violence has stayed essentially stable or even decreased slightly over time (see Resources for a listing of websites of some national reports on school violence).

Unfortunately, not all schools are equally safe. National level data suggests that middle and high schools, especially larger schools, are more at-risk for serious violence. Moreover, students in urban schools serving predominantly lower SES minority children remain twice as likely to be victims of violence as students in suburban, town, or rural areas. In addressing the tragic incidents that have occurred recently in suburban and rural schools, it is critical that the more ongoing and severe problems of lower SES urban schools and students not be forgotten or ignored.

Increasing Amounts of Gun Violence in the United States

Gun violence is a regularly debated political issue in the United States. Gun-related violence is most common in poor urban areas and frequently associated with gang violence, often involving male juveniles or young adult males.^[1][2] High-profile mass shootings have fueled debate over gun policies, even though these events are relatively rare.^[3] In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm.^[4] High-profile assassinations such as those of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and the Beltway sniper attacks involved the use of rifles, usually with telescopic sights, from concealed locations.

Hand guns figured in the Virginia Tech massacre, Binghamton shootings, 2009 Fort Hood shooting, Oikos University shooting, and 2011 Tucson shooting. Assailants with multiple weapons committed the Aurora theater shooting, and the Columbine High School massacre.

In 2009, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 67% of all homicides in the U.S. were conducted using a firearm.^[5]Two-thirds of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. are suicides. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S.^[6]

Increasing Amount of pornography made available to the General Public 

Research concerning the effects of pornography is concerned with multiple outcomes.^[1] Such research includes potential influences on rape, domestic violence, sexual dysfunction, difficulties with sexual relationships, and child sexual abuse. Viewers of novel and extreme pornographic images may become tolerant to such images, which may impact sexual response.^[1] Currently, there is no evidence that visual images and films are addictive.^[2] Some studies support the contention that the viewing of pornographic material may increase rates of sexual crimes, whereas others are either inconclusive, suggest no effect, or conclude the liberalization of porn in society may be associated with decreased rape and sexual violence rates.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

What Should We Do With This Information? 

All of these things have an impact on each of us individually, how we think, and how we see the world. These things also impact our world as a whole, social norms, and social convention. Again, are we a production of our society? What does that say about the "truths" on which we so boldly stand? 

Sometimes the way we think  limit our understanding of life!  The "Truths" that  we build our entire mentality on are sometimes warped by our life experiences, our family, our culture, social norms, social convention etc...Our philosophical view of the world can take us to some dark places and limit our outlook on f life, but there is a brighter world out there. It's all about how you look at things....

How to Reflect on Your Life

Edited by Mikeaemisegger, Catie, Teresa, Hafiz Mohammad Shayan Tariq

Reflection is the art of pondering on one's virtues and faults. It is also the ability to reflect on the "here and now", on your feelings and thoughts. This also includes reflecting on the thoughts, emotions and the feelings of others. This can help to improve oneself as you assess and reflect upon the decisions you made in life. Use your reflections as an opportunity to make profound and a constructive or positive change in your life. This may require letting go of some people and retaining others. This will depend greatly on the outcome of your reflections, also on the accuracy and intuitive feelings of these reflections.

Steps: 

1. Relax
2. Look back through your thoughts, both positive and negative
3. Spend time on each experience and try to use your senses to experience what happened.
4. Spend time on each experience and try to use your senses to experience what happened.
5. Pick up on verbal and non verbal cues when reflecting
6. Follow your intuitions and gut feelings.
7. Look at yourself in the mirror:  How do you see yourself? How do others see you? How does God see you? 

Develop God's Perspective on Life December 30, , 2012  by Rick Warre In a spiritual sense, it means seeing life from God’s point of view. In the Bible, the words "understanding,” "wisdom,” and "discernment” all have to do with perspective. The opposite of perspective is “hardness of heart,” “blinded,” and “dullness.” There are many benefits of learning to see everything from God’s perspective: Perspective causes us to love God more. The better we understand the nature and ways of God, the more we love him. Paul prayed "May you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is" (Ephesians 3:18 LB). Perspective helps us resist temptation. When we look at a situation from God’s viewpoint, we realize the long-term consequences of sin are greater than any short-term pleasure sin might provide. Without perspective we follow our own natural inclinations. "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death" (Proverbs 14:12 NIV). Perspective helps us handle trials. When we have God’s perspective on life we realize that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28) and that “the testing of your faith develops perseverance" (James 1:3). Perspective was one of the reasons Jesus was able to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:2). He looked past the pain to the joy that was set before him. Perspective protects us from error. If there was ever a time that Christians need to be grounded in the truth, it is today. Pluralism has created a very confused culture. The problem is not that our culture believes nothing but that it believes everything. Perspective is the antidote. When believers, new and mature, are given both knowledge and perspective, the result is rock solid: "Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth" (Ephesians 4:14 LB). Talk About It

Scripture:

Romans 12:2 ESV 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

2 Timothy 2:19 ESV 

But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

1 John 4:1 ESV 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Philippians 1:9-10 ESV

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

Hebrews 5:14 ESV 

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.