A recent study revealed how added sugars and artificial sweeteners may impact children's health, as they significantly increase the risk of early puberty in some children.
Researchers found a strong link between sugar, aspartame, sucralose and glycyrrhizin and an increased risk of early puberty, especially in children with a genetic predisposition.
MD, PhD, of Taipei Medical University, Yang-Ching Chen, stated:
“CPP has been increasing rapidly throughout the past decades. In Taiwan, the prevalence has increased sevenfold over the past 10 years. So, we are so curious about whether some unknown nutritional or environmental issues will cause early puberty.”
CPP further refers to central precocious puberty, the initial activation of hormones that trigger sexual development, often before the age of eight in girls and before the age of nine in boys.
Researchers found that early puberty may lead to mental distress and a significantly higher risk of cardiac diseases and type 2 diabetes later in life.
For the study, researchers assessed data from more than 1,400 teens in Taiwan.
Participants underwent genetic testing to find out 19 markers related to central precocious puberty.
The results indicated a few astonishing gender differences. Sucralose was linked to a higher risk of early puberty in boys, while sucralose, glycyrrhizin and extra sugars were associated with a higher risk in girls.
Dr. Chen stated that the more of these sweeteners the teens ate, the higher their risk.
"We want to inform the parents and the healthcare givers that children undergoing puberty growth, you need to be aware that they cannot consume these kinds of diet drinks too much because they contain many artificial sweeteners and non-nutritive sweeteners, which could possibly trigger a higher risk of CPP."
Chen says these findings “could lead to new dietary guidelines or risk assessment tools” for early puberty.
