Pandemic’s Hidden Impact: New Study Uncovers Startling Rise in Girls Entering Puberty Early
According to a recent study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society, the number of girls diagnosed with precocious puberty rose significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase has been attributed to potential risk factors like extended screen time and decreased physical activity. Precocious puberty is a condition where children begin to undergo physical changes into adulthood prematurely.
For girls, this means experiencing changes like breast buds before the age of 8. There have been links between COVID-19 and endocrine-related conditions such as obesity, a known factor that can lead to early puberty in girls.
“Our study confirms the rise in precocious puberty diagnoses during COVID-19 and identifies contributing factors such as poor eating and exercise habits, too much screen time, and impaired sleep,” said study author Mohamad Maghnie, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Genoa and the Giannina Gaslini Institute in Genoa, Italy. “We found an increase in weight gain among girls diagnosed with precocious puberty during the pandemic, and rapid increase in body weight is associated with advanced pubertal development.”
The researchers evaluated the incidence of precocious puberty before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in 133 girls from Italy. They also examined the possible relationship between COVID-19 and pandemic-related lifestyle changes.
They found 72 cases of precocious puberty before the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2016-March 2020) and 61 cases between March 2020 and June 2021. That equates to four new cases per month.
The researchers also found girls diagnosed with precocious puberty during the COVID-19 pandemic tended to have higher body mass index (BMI) scores than girls who did not. These girls spent an average of 2 hours per day using electronic devices, and 88.5% of them stopped any physical activity.
“The role of stress, social isolation, increased conflicts between parents, economic status, and the increased use of hand and surface sanitizers represent potentially further interesting hypotheses as to why early puberty is increasing in youth,” Maghnie said. “Although, the consequence of biological adaptation cannot be entirely ruled out.”
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