The early onset of puberty in urban children is stopping them
from growing to their correct height, say medical experts.
A recent survey conducted by the Fudan University and the
Shanghai Children's Hospital found about 1 percent of the children
in Shanghai are afflicted with early puberty. Doctors have observed
a rapid increase in such cases in the past few years, with girls
being affected more than boys.
The survey found early puberty had become the second largest
endocrine disease of Shanghai children, next to obesity.
A third of the visitors to the pediatric endocrine departments
of Shanghai Children's Hospital, Xinhua Hospital and Ruijin
Hospital consulted or sought treatment for early puberty.
"I met a patient, an 8-year-old girl, who is 1.18 meters tall,"
said doctor Yin Qi from Shanghai's Jiangao Clinic, a branch of
Capital Institute of Pediatrics in Beijing. "Her bone age was 10
years old. She won't be able to grow to 1.5 meters without medical
intervention."
If a girl shows development of secondary sex characters at the
age of 8, and a boy at 9, doctors consider it a case of early
puberty. Usually, children with early puberty won't be able to grow
to normal height because their epiphysis, the growth area near the
end of a bone, closes earlier than it should, stopping bones from
growing.
Doctors from major hospitals said 52.5 percent of the children
shorter than normal suffer from depression. Also, the early
outbreak of sexual impulse may lead to sex-related crimes or
teenage pregnancy, Yin said.
Early puberty is caused by many reasons, Yin said. "You are
bombarded with sexual scenes on TV now. Such scenes stimulate
children too and triggers hormone secretion."
Such hormones are often found in fast food, which accelerate
children's development. "The problem is more serious in major
cities than in the countryside because urban children are better
fed."
(China Daily October 3, 2007)
