[Red in Blue PA]

Re: How can it be definitively proven that these girls even know how old they are?

If you live on an island you may not know your true age.

In China??

Cmon.

[grellis]

Think about the way these girls are raised (and it's not any different than the way young girls were trained to be gymnasts in the USSR). They are removed from their families at a very young age--at the first sign of showing the skills required of a gymnast. That's young. I started tumbling when I was four, and one of my boys began when he was three. That is not uncommon. Now think about how easy it would be to convince a very young kid--one who has been taken from her family, keep in mind--that she's older than she thinks she is. Not only would that be possible, I bet it's easy.

One other thing of which I am unsure--my best friend while growing up had been born in Saigon, came to the US in 1975. We were both born in the same year, but she always quoted her age as a year older. She explained to me that it was traditional, in Vietnam, to give your age as the year you are beginning to live, not the year you have just completed. For all I know this is common throughout Asia. Might be just another way to confuse an already confused young girl about her age.

I don't know about you, but I spend an awful lot of time with 3-4 year olds. They'll believe practically anything.