Pheromones

A University of Canterbury study found that daughters of involved fathers take more time to enter puberty.

Girls, whose fathers are active caregivers and have a positive relationship with the girl’s mother, enter puberty later, while girls who grew up without a dad reach sexual maturity earlier than average, according to a University of Canterbury study conducted by Dr Bruce Ellis.

Father involvement was most predictive for late puberty in girls if it took place before age five.

Ellis has researched 173 girls and their families and speculates that the link between involved fatherhood and a girl’s puberty are pheromones – substances that our bodies emit and that we usually can’t smell.

The research adds an unexpected twist to the discussion about why puberty in girls in Western countries comes about so much earlier now than it used to in our mothers.

If Ellis’ research holds up, this could in part be explained by increased father abscence through divorce or longer working hours. It also offers an additional explanation to the high teenage pregnancy rates in girls from fatherless homes.

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