Tara was just seven when puberty struck - shockingly, cases like hers are becoming all too common - so what's to blame?
The first reports of a steep drop in the age of puberty began to emerge from the U.S. just over a decade ago - around the time my son Tony was born - but I didn't take too much notice back then.
If it was a real problem, I reasoned, I would know someone with a child in this situation and back then I did not.
As with so many other health stories, sceptical scientists quickly stepped in to criticise the methods used in the American studies, while others blamed the lifestyle there - too much obesity, too much sitting in front of televisions and computer screens and too much hormone-treated beef.
It couldn't, I thought, happen to us. I could not have been more wrong. A study at the University of Copenhagen by some of the most respected experts in this field - and the first of its kind in Western Europe - has concluded the age at which girls and boys begin to mature physically has dropped in a short space of time.
In girls, the age of puberty is down by a whole year - from 11 to ten. For boys, the change is less stark, but it's nonetheless real - they now start puberty around four months earlier than they once did, on average aged ten rather than 11.
Separate studies in Holland and Italy have confirmed these findings, which echo what endocrinologists (doctors who specialise in hormones) have been reporting: a surge in the number of children being referred to their clinics with symptoms of early puberty.
Dr Richard Stanhope, who has worked at London's Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital for more than 20 years, believes the change is creating serious problems for many children who are physically mature at an age when they are too young psychologically to deal with it.
'They are physically ready for sexual reproduction, but mentally completely unready,' he says.
Dr Stanhope believes they are potentially more vulnerable to sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy.
In boys, research suggests those who go into puberty early are more likely to get involved in risky behaviour, including taking drugs, binge- drinking and breaking the law.
It is thought that an early increase in levels of the male hormone testosterone can lead to aggression in boys too young to control their impulses.
'We all know that testosterone is a very difficult hormone to learn to live with,' Dr Stanhope says. 'And if you get a rise in testosterone outside the normal age, then it is even more of a problem.'
Shocked: Tara, now 18, is still haunted by her premature puberty
Recently I experienced first-hand the impossible tensions Dr Stanhope describes when I was allowed inside a secure children's unit for a documentary on Radio 4.
These child prisons house some of the most damaged and potentially dangerous youngsters in the UK, sent there for their own protection by social services or the courts.
I observed one boy blowing his top in what was meant to be an anger management counselling session - kicking at the locked door and demanding to be let out, hurling abuse at me when I said there was no need to swear.
Although he looked about 18, he'd hit puberty at nine and was fully physically mature at around the age of ten. The boy may have looked grown up, but his troubles had begun when, just like any other ten-year-old, he had been showing off to some older boys, trying to impress.
Sadly for him, his idols were in a drug dealing gang. They had used him to do their dirty work and he had quickly built up a record for serious violence.
'You see,' he growled at me in a deep, gravely voice, 'I didn't want to be with kids of my age, playing hide-and-seek.
'I remember I was horrified. At that age, I had no idea what was happening to my body. But I knew it didn't feel right'
The problem is that two important life events - puberty, where we develop physically and sexually, and adolescence, where we mature emotionally and psychologically - are now happening separately for many children, whereas they used to coincide.
Sadly, those hang-ups are still there today. 'Even now I dislike getting changed in communal changing rooms and I also hate anyone seeing my armpits - I still feel more comfortable in tops and dresses with small sleeves.' Despite the reassurance that she was normal, Tara was a child who felt terribly embarrassed, insisting on covering up, wearing T-shirts with sleeves even in summer.
Wanting to be like everyone else is very important to children, according to Linda Blair, a psychologist with 30 years' experience working with families both in the NHS and in private practice.
She told me she has lost count of the number of people whose problems stem from early puberty, but says there has been a dramatic rise in recent years.
'Children can feel miserable about anything that makes them stand out,' she says. 'They want to belong. It's only in late adolescence that we want to be different and individual.
'The fact they are maturing so much faster physically than they are emotionally is creating huge tensions within children and a great deal of conflict at home.'
Linda also believes that advertising, which encourages children to want to look older, is adding to their problems.
'Children of ten are only just about able to empathise, let alone to project into the future and realise the consequences of their actions.
'Yet some are hitting puberty at nine and are being encouraged by what they see on TV to think they should be having feelings and experiences they are just not ready for.'
Linda Blair and psychologists like her find themselves advising parents on how to explain physical signs of sexual maturity to children who are not emotionally ready to learn about sex.
'It can be traumatic for children. I advise parents to answer questions only as they arise and to tell young girls who are having periods that it is the way the body prepares for having a baby one day, but that the body is getting rid of that preparation because that day is a long way off in the future.'
As well as lasting psychological problems, there are worries that early puberty might bring with it an increased risk of health problems in later life.
'The earlier a girl has her period, the longer her exposure to oestrogen,' Dr Stanhope explains. 'This may increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer and of developing cardiovascular problems.
'In men, prostate cancer is a hormonally sensitive tumour. So, in theory, the longer you are exposed to testosterone, the more you would expect the incidence rate to rise.'
According to Cancer Research UK, a girl who has her first period a year later than her contemporaries is five per cent less likely to develop cancer in later life. Girls who reach puberty early are also more likely to develop diabetes.
50% of girls are menstruating by the age of ten in the UK!!!
This has happened to Hayley Smith, from Bingham near Nottingham. Now 15, Hayley began puberty aged just three and at six was having periods and wearing a bra.
Her parents Debbie, a former chemist, and David, a project manager, were worried sick - and still are. Hayley was diagnosed with diabetes when she was four.
'David and I had so many discussions,' says Debbie. 'We have asked ourselves: "What if Hayley's early puberty meant she would go through the menopause in her 20s? Would her fertility be affected? Should we be thinking about having some of her eggs frozen in case she wanted a family of her own one day?"
'They are questions we still don't know the answers to because the necessary research hasn't been done.'
The Smiths are also baffled as to why their child has been affected.Although scientists don't know why the age of puberty has dropped, they agree that the change is too sudden to be genetic and must be down to environmental factors - almost certainly more than one.
The Western diet is probably part of it and there is a link between obesity and early puberty. But in the Danish study, scientists found no difference in the body mass index of girls who were growing breasts a year earlier than those who weren't.
They concluded that, although obesity is a risk factor, it doesn't explain the trend. Research in Italy suggested that the light and radiation coming from televisions and computer screens may be suppressing the production of the hormone melatonin, which regulates the body's internal clock.
This hormone is thought to protect against the early onset of puberty. And as scientists have looked for significant changes in the way we live that may account for what is happening, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals - mostly man-made - are emerging as a prime suspect.
Who knew?
The youngest mother on record is Lina Medina from Peru, who gave birth in 1939 at the age of five years, seven months and 21 days
These can damage the way hormones work in our bodies and can mimic the effects of some hormones, including oestrogen.
It is a tricky area of research because we are all exposed to a cocktail of these chemicals in our daily lives. One group of chemicals called phthalates are added to plastic to increase its flexibility and can be found in everything from food packaging to toys.
Another, Bisphenol A, is used in some children's feeding cups and even baby bottles. For his part, Dr Stanhope believes that the early onset of puberty may turn out to have more to do with chemical contamination than diet. 'It's just a hunch,' he told me.
'There's no proof as yet, but you only have to look at the way sperm counts have come down in the West in the past 40 years.'
Whatever the factors, there will be lots involved. Ten years on from the first findings of early puberty in our children, I too know an emotionally immature little girl with the body of a grown up.
This girl, the child of some friends, began her periods at ten and now at 13 years is wreaking havoc at home, demanding to wear revealing low-cut clothes and make-up even at school.
For parents trying to protect their children from the distressing prospect of turning into adults before their time, psychologist Linda Blair is adamant that we must be ' consistent, clear and directive'.
We must, she says, lay down the rules. 'You must be willing to say to a child: "No. You are too young to go out alone unsupervised to hang out with the opposite sex." Tell girls firmly: "You are too young for underwear designed for adults."
'Kids feel very alone in puberty, they need a calm and steady guide.'
When families do as she suggests, she says, everyone is happier - particularly the child.
According to Linda, early puberty is one factor in the distress some children exhibit and lies behind the disturbing current prevalence of anorexia and self-harm.
'Sadly for our children this disconnect between physical and mental maturity has come at a time when they are bombarded with images of experiences they are not ready for - romantic relationships and sex,' she says.
'Advertising is pushing kids to look older, while at the same time parents are reluctant to be clear, firm and direct.'
Now - more than ever, it seems - vulnerable children are thrust into the dangerous realms of physical maturity and need the support of genuine adults, confident and willing to help them through.
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