Early Puberty link to Childhood Obesity? Study: More U.S. Girls Starting Puberty Early

weighty:

Regardless of their race, girls with a higher body mass index (BMI) — a ratio of height to weight — tend to mature sooner, the researchers found. This finding, which has been reported in other studies, suggests that soaring obesity rates among children may be contributing to the rates of early puberty.

But it’s not yet clear why girls — and especially white girls — are starting to physically mature at younger ages. One theory is that excess body fat affects the levels of hormones that trigger puberty.

jwillis:

This totally makes sense. I knew it seemed like kids were looking much more grown at an earlier age. This study is only about girls, but I’m sure a similar study about boys would produce similar data.