How it can affect puberty: Obese girls tend to start their periods faster but develop breastfeeding more slowly, study shows
- Researchers studied 90 girls between the ages of 8 and 15, 36 obese
- Previous studies have found that obese girls begin puberty earlier
- Obese girls had higher levels of some key hormones than thin girls
- Associated with slow breast maturation, irregular periods, acne and excess body hair
Obese girls are more likely to develop acne and excess body hair as they go through puberty than their leaner peers, a study says.
A study from the USA found that girls who carry too much puppy fat have elevated hormone levels during their teens.
This also leads to irregular menstrual cycle as well as delayed breast development.
A previous study has found that obese adolescents start smoking earlier and also their first period earlier than expected, but the new study is the first evidence of why this may be be.
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Obese girls are more likely to develop acne and excess body hair as they go through puberty than their leaner peers, study says (stock)
Researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) studied 90 girls between the ages of 8 and 15, 36 were obese and 54 were of ‘normal’ weight.
They were routinely followed over four years by clinicians performing ultrasound of their breasts and pelvic regions as well as measuring hormone levels from a blood sample. All the girls also showed up when they had their first time.
‘Girls with more whole body fat showed higher levels of some genital hormones including follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), inhibin B and male-like hormones such as testosterone,’ said lead author Dr Natalie Shaw.

A US study found that girls who carry too much puppy fat in their teens have different hormone levels than someone who was overweight (stock)
She also said that girls with higher body fat levels, as confirmed by a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan, were also younger during their first period and had delayed delivery. breast maturation.
However, it was found that body fat and subsequently altered hormone levels had no effect on the development of the uterus and ovaries.
Dr Shaw said: ‘The long-term consequences of these differences in puberty symptoms deserve further study.’
The research was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
A 2007 study followed 354 girls through adolescence and found that obese girls had a chance of 80 their first period before age 12.
A long-standing correlation between weight and puberty has been observed, but this was one of the first studies to show that stress caused early pubescence, not the other way around.
However, a 2017 study from Imperial College London found that girls who start puberty earlier are also more likely to be obese as adults.
According to Dr. Dipender Gill, lead author of the Imperial study, this was evidence that early puberty causes obesity in adulthood.
Both Dr. Gill and Dr. Joyce Lee, lead author of the 2007 study from the University of Michigan, believe they cited causation, indicating that being obese as a child causes early puberty and this, when that, causes adult obesity.
However, although the relationship was established, it was not yet known what caused it.