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Sugary Drinks Linked to Early Puberty in Girls

| January 29, 2015 Comment

Sugary drinks linked to early puberty in girls, according to a new study published on the Human Reproduction website.

Researchers followed 5,000 girls aged 9 to 14 between the years 1996 and 2001, and found that those who consumed more than 1.5 servings of sugar-sweetened drinks daily (such as soda, sweetened fruit drinks and sweetened teas) had a first menstruation 2.7 months earlier than those who had two or fewer servings each week. The average age at the first period among girls who consumed the most sugary drinks was 12.8 years, compared with 13 years for those drinking the least.

Though researchers are not sure why sugary drinks bring on early menstruation, they say that this is another reason along with obesity to cut down on such drinks.

The study’s first author, Jenny Carwile, a postdoctoral associate at the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, pointed out that diet soda and fruit juice were not associated with earlier onset of menstruation.

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Category: News

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