In the early Pokemon anime, May was supposed to be 10 years old, yet she had an hourglass figure and fully developed breasts. What might her hormonal profile look like in comparison to the average 10 year old girl's?
First, it's crucial to state the obvious: May's design is a product of artistic style and anime tropes, not biological reality. The animators at OLM were not consulting pediatric endocrinologists when designing her character. Her appearance is exaggerated for a stylistic effect common in anime, where characters often have more mature, idealized features regardless of their stated age.
However, to answer this specific question about the hormonal profile, we can explore what it would take in the real world for a 10-year-old to develop secondary sexual characteristics to that degree. For the vast majority of 10-year-old girls, puberty is just beginning or is in its very early stages (a stage known as Tanner Stage 2).
Estradiol: Levels are very low, typically in the range of < 5 to 10 pg/mL. This is the primary estrogen responsible for breast development (thelarche) and hip widening.
Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Luteinizing Hormone (LH): These pituitary hormones are starting to pulse at night, but their levels are still low. They are the signals that tell the ovaries to start producing estrogen.
Growth Hormone (GH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1): Levels are rising, initiating the pre-pubertal growth spurt.
Progesterone: Levels remain negligible until after ovulation begins, which is a later stage of puberty.
Testosterone: Very low levels are present from the adrenal glands (adrenarche), which can contribute to the very early stages of pubic hair growth (pubarche), but not to breast development.
At this age, any breast development is usually just a small "bud" under the nipple (breast bud), not developed breast tissue.