Obesity linked to earlier puberty in girls
Print Edition
Girls of all races are entering puberty earlier than ever before, and US research yesterday suggests obesity may be a contributing factor, particularly in white girls.
Early puberty has been linked to a number of medical conditions, including increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, as well as high blood pressure and depression.
White girls on average began developing breasts at a median age of 9.7 years, about four months earlier than found in a separate study in 1997, said the report in the journal Pediatrics.
A higher body mass index, or ratio of height and weight, was “the strongest predictor” of early breast development across all races in the study.
African-American girls continued to develop at earlier ages than whites and Asians, as previous studies also found, though no earlier than was noted in the 1980s and 1990s.
“The obesity epidemic appears to be a prime driver in the decrease in age at onset of breast development in contemporary girls,” said the research led by Frank Biro at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
The research is based on a group of 1,200 girls in New York, the San Francisco Bay area and the Cincinnati area, as part of the government-funded Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
