Too many sugary drinks in girls lead to precocious puberty
A high consumption of sugary drinks during the ungrateful age would be associated with an early onset of the first period in adolescents. This observation is the result of a study carried out by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, confirming the correlation between a high Body Mass Index (BMI) and precocious puberty .
Sugary drinks: an impact on development in adolescence
The study was conducted on more than 5,000 young girls aged between 9 and 14 years old. In particular, the scientists questioned the adolescent girls about the arrival of their periods, their consumption of sugary drinks over several years, as well as their eating habits , taking into account certain variants that could be subject to confusion such as, for example, physical activity, the BMI (be careful, in children the calculation of the BMI is different from that for the adult, you can calculate the BMI of your child here ) , the ethnic origin or, the weight at birth and the age of the mother’s first menstrual period.
After analyzing the different data, the researchers found that teenage girls with a high consumption of sugary drinks, i.e. more than 1.5 “servings” per day , are more likely (22%) to see their first period appear early. , the average age being approximately 13.1 years, compared to young girls with lower consumption, namely approximately 2 sugary drinks per week. Thus adolescent girls consuming sugary drinks daily will have their first period on average at 12.8 years of age, i.e. 2.7 months earlier.
Additionally, scientists have found that only sugary drinks such as non-carbonated fruit drinks and sugary carbonated drinks are implicated.
A relationship in the same way as the obesity/precocious puberty correlation
This study shows that sugary drinks would be identified as an accelerator of puberty, in addition to promoting a risk of obesity. These results confirm the association between obesity and precocious puberty , already proven many times before, with a correlation between precocious puberty and a high BMI.
The results of this study are a reminder of the consequences linked to the risk of obesity on health, namely a high risk of the appearance of certain cancers, such as breast cancer, or even a significant risk of the onset of diabetes.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.