Posted by Michael Schuman Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 12:49 am

I returned a few days ago from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, where the talk of the town – well, at least among economists -- is the “middle-income trap.” What's that, you ask? A developing nation gets “trapped” when it reaches a certain, relatively comfortable level of income but can't seem to take that next big jump into the true big leagues of the world economy, with per capita wealth to match. Every go-go economy in Asia has confronted this “trap,” or is dealing with it now. Breaking out of it, however, is extremely difficult. The reason is that escaping the “trap” requires an entire overhaul of the economic growth model most often used by emerging economies.

By Alice Park Monday, Aug. 09, 2010

A new study suggests that young girls are increasingly reaching puberty earlier — between 2004 and 2006 twice as many Caucasian girls showed breast maturity at age 7 as compared to 1997. The percentage of African-American girls showing the same early sign of puberty remained constant over the same time period.

The analysis, conducted by researchers collaborating in the multicenter Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers, adds to the growing evidence that the onset of puberty in girls may be shifting earlier and earlier, possibly due to obesity or exposure to environmental chemicals.
(See how to prevent illness at any age.)