SCIENTISTS believe obesity, junk food and increased meat consumption could be responsible for the increasing number of girls reaching puberty before the age of ten.
Evidence suggests that girls who start their periods early are at higher risk of developing cancer and heart disease and an earlier University of Queensland research found women who reach puberty early have increased levels of aggression and delinquency.
A study of 1000 girls conducted in Denmark showed that breast development started at an average of nine years and 10 months – a year earlier than a similar study conducted in 1991. Similar data has been found in American studies.
“We were very surprised that there had been such a change,” said Anders Juul to the Sunday Times. Juul is head of the Department of Growth and Reproduction at the University hospital in Copenhagen, a world leader in the study of hormones.
“If girls mature early, they run into teenage problems at an early age and they’re more prone to diseases later on. We should be worried about this regardless of what we think the underlying reasons might be. It’s a clear sign that something is affecting our children, whether it’s junk food, environmental chemicals or lack of physical activity.”
This may be linked to obesity or exposure to chemicals in the food chain. They warned that such young girls were ill-equipped to cope with sexual development when they are still at primary school and were at greater longterm risk of breast cancer.
A study of 3,000 girls by Dr Imogen Rogers from the University of Brighton showed a link between high meat consumption and earlier puberty in girls.
The study found that 49 per cent of girls who ate meat 12 times a week at the age of seven reached puberty by the age of 12, compared with 35 per cent of those who ate meat four times a week or less.
Studying girls from 1990’s study’s the diet from ages between three and seven years they found that girls who had a higher intake of meat and protein at three and seven were more likely to have started their periods by 12½ years old than girls who ate less meat and protein.
Girls who start their periods early were at higher risk of a number of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and heart disease.
“Meat is a good source of many important nutrients including iron and zinc and there is no reason why girls should adopt a vegetarian diet or that meat in moderation cannot form a valuable part of a balanced diet for children” Dr Rogers said.
She said the findings needed repeating in other populations before firm recommendations on diet can be made but suggested it is healthiest to avoid diets containing very high amounts of meat.
