Obesity in Girls Linked to Early Puberty

The growing national rate of childhood obesity appears to be contributing to early puberty in girls, according to researchers at the U-M C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

“Our study indicates that increased body fatness is associated with earlier onset of puberty,” says pediatric endocrinologist Joyce Lee, M.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and a member of the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit.

In a study of 354 American girls ages 3 to 12, Lee and the research team found that a body mass index score in the 85th percentile or above in girls as young as age 3, and large increases in scores between age 3 and first grade, were associated with early breast development and menstruation.

According to Lee, early puberty can lead to a higher incidence of behavioral problems, early alcohol use and sexual intercourse, and increased rates of adult obesity and reproductive cancer.

—Krista Hopson

For an expanded version of the story: www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2007/puberty.htm

Resources for parents with overweight children:  www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_blobesit_pep.htm