We are very familiar with such reports: children's precocious puberty clinics are always packed during holidays; we are also very concerned about such reports that fast food, off-season fruits, health products, etc., lead to precocious puberty in children. Recently, "Popular Medicine" specially invited a well-known expert in China who studies precocious puberty to explain the pros and cons of children's precocious puberty for everyone. Precocious puberty is influenced by multiple factors
Clinically, "precocious puberty" is defined by age, which is determined based on surveys of a large population of normal children and statistical analysis. The average age of puberty onset for normal girls is 10 years old, and for boys, it is 11 years old. Generally, if girls show sexual characteristics before the age of 8, or boys before the age of 9, or if girls have their first menstruation before the age of 10, it can be diagnosed as "precocious puberty".
At present, the exact mechanism of idiopathic central precocious puberty is not yet fully understood. It is believed that the early onset of puberty is influenced by multiple factors, causing an imbalance between inhibitory and excitatory factors, which activates the hypothalamic "GnRH pulse generator," thereby starting the biological clock of sexual development and leading to premature gonadal development. Is precocious puberty really caused by diet
So far, the control mechanism for the onset of puberty is not yet fully understood, but it is widely recognized to be related to multiple factors such as genetics, body weight, biological clock, and light exposure. Many media claim that "precocious puberty is caused by diet" and list high-risk diets that can lead to it, such as fast food, off-season fruits, and nourishing soups. However, in a strict sense, these "accusations" are currently only based on certain observations or inferences and await scientific research for confirmation.
The relationship between diet and precocious puberty may lie more in nutritional excess and obesity, causing a child's weight to reach the critical weight prematurely, thus triggering puberty development. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle is a preventive measure worth advocating. Children should have simple meals, eat more vegetables, exercise more, and avoid tonics. These measures can not only prevent the occurrence of precocious puberty but also prevent obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Early detection of signs of the "sexual biological clock" starting
For the intervention and treatment of precocious puberty, early detection is key. Clinically, it is common for parents to notice the problem only after their child has started menstruation, at which point the best treatment opportunity has been lost. Therefore, parents should pay more attention to observing their child's growth and development. For example: measure and record height and weight annually; pay attention if a child grows too fast, i.e., height increases by more than 6-7 cm per year after the age of 3; pay attention to the child's nutritional diet; be alert if the child's appetite becomes unusually strong and their weight increases significantly; while bathing the child, observe for signs of secondary sexual characteristics, such as the development of a girl's breasts and vulva, or the enlargement of a boy's testes and penis, or the appearance of pubic hair. Once any of these suspicious signs are found, one should seek a comprehensive examination at a specialized hospital as soon as possible to determine the cause, and some may require regular follow-ups as prescribed by a doctor.