Sugary Drinks Linked to Early Puberty in Girls

Girls who are big consumers of sugar drinks are at risk of having early menarche or puberty onset.

According to US News and World Report, the study by Harvard researchers shows that girls who consume more than 1.5 servings of sugary drinks a day can have puberty early onset by 2.7 months in comparison to girls who consumed less. While researchers have not established why, the findings are a cause of concern as early menarche is associated with increased risk of breast cancer and a host of other problems in adulthood.

"Our study adds to increasing concern about the wide-spread consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks among children and adolescents in the USA and elsewhere," the study's lead researcher in a press release.

"The main concern is about childhood obesity, but our study suggests that age of first menstruation (menarche) occurred earlier, independently of body mass index, among girls with the highest consumption of drinks sweetened with added sugar. These findings are important in the context of earlier puberty onset among girls, which has been observed in developed countries and for which the reason is largely unknown," she adds.

"A 1-year decrease in age at menarche is estimated to increase the risk of breast cancer by 5% thus a 2.7-month decrease in age at menarche likely has a modest impact on breast cancer risk," researcher wrote in the study. The research involved 5,600 girls aged between 9 and 14 years who were followed from 1996 to 2001.