Celebrating Children’s Health Month by Destigmatizing Changing Bodies

October is National Children’s Health Month. At Women’s Voices for the Earth, we’re thinking about how to protect young people who menstruate from harmful chemicals and toxic marketing designed to stigmatize our natural body functions. 

According to the CDC, between 2013 and 2017, half of all women began menstruating by 11 years and 10 months of age, and some began as early as 10 years old. Black and Hispanic children are much more likely to start menstruating at younger ages than white children.   As the age of first menstruation continues to get younger, removing toxic chemicals from menstrual and intimate care products becomes an increasingly important part of protecting children’s environmental health and safeguarding their reproductive health as they move into adulthood.  Furthermore, we need to reinforce the message for young people that menstruation is both normal and healthy and not a condition that we need to hide or feel shame about. 

WVE’s Our Stories Our Flow workshops focus on destigmatizing menstruation among young women, adolescent girls, and other young people who menstruate and empowering them to share stories and cultural traditions related to this important part of our life’s journey.  

Adolescent girls are bombarded with marketing that stigmatizes their developing bodies and is often highly susceptible to advertising pressure. Part of protecting children’s health is destigmatizing the changes happening in their bodies, so they do not internalize marketing that tells them their bodies are unclean or smelly and need products containing harmful chemicals. Companies reinforce and capitalize on this sense of insecurity with products like Summer’s Eve’s “Ultimate Odor Protection” body wash with boric acid, a reproductive toxicant. 

As we mark National Children’s Health Month and celebrate Vaginal Health Week, please join me in taking action: 

1. Tell Summer’s Eve that toxic chemicals and body shaming are never okay!
2. Tell the FDA to issue guidance to manufacturers of intimate care products so that they don’t harm their consumers. 
3. Register for WVE’s Intimate Care Products 201 webinar to learn more. 
4. Please support WVE’s ongoing work to protect children’s environmental health with a regular donation of just $5!