Does eating a lot of milk and meat cause early puberty?

Many cases of children puberty early but detected late, affecting the psychology and development of children later.

Early puberty examination for children at the National Children’s Hospital

I thought I “wet in the bed” unexpectedly… early puberty

At the National Children’s Hospital, every day, many pediatric patients show signs of precocious puberty.

Huyen Anh (Ba Vi) brought her 5-year-old daughter to the doctor because all indicators of height, weight and bust were exceeded for her age.

Huyen Anh said: “The baby was born bigger than other children and developed quickly. However, in the last 1 month, my baby’s chest has increased very quickly and hair has appeared in the pubic area … “.

BSCK1 Ngo Thi Ngai, Department of Nephrology – Endocrinology, Children’s Hospital 2 (HCMC) said that this place has been examining many children with early puberty. Typically, a girl is 6 years old but her breasts are already growing rapidly; had bone age in 8-year-old children, diagnosed with advanced central precocious puberty and prescribed drug treatment for precocious puberty. Results after 6 months of treatment, height increased by 3cm, did not develop breasts, pubic hair, armpit hair, maintained bone age.

Also here, taking her child to re-examination, the mother of the child, Pham Le An Nh. (SN 2015) said, I have big breasts since birth. Since 16 months, the patient has been examined, the breast develops at puberty 2. The results of ultrasound, X-ray, uterus is older than age, bone age is 24 months old. Baby Nh. designated for follow-up.

One year after follow-up, the patient was diagnosed with advanced central precocious puberty. This is a case of precocious puberty at a very young age (2 years old). To date, the patient has had 4 brain MRI scans and continues to be treated with drugs to inhibit precocious puberty.

Not only girls, many boys also have very early puberty, such as patient Pham HH (SN 2016). From the age of 5, H. has grown tall, has large genitals, often craves salty foods… When he went to the doctor, he found that his genitals were large, with pubic hair, and his bone age was equivalent to a 14-year-old child. Ultrasound showed testicular tumor and concluded adrenal tumor.

About 2 months ago, sometimes her 8-year-old son Nguyen Ha An (Ha Dong), his pants got wet. Thinking the child was bed-wetting, when she took her pants to wash, Ms. An discovered that there were “traces” of the dream phenomenon. Taking her to the doctor, she was diagnosed with precocious puberty, the main cause of which was stimulated by a tumor in the pituitary gland.

Take good care of children, children are not obese, why do they still have early puberty?

Sharing about early puberty in children, Dr. Nguyen Phuong Thao, Head of the Department of Endocrinology – Metabolism – Genetics, National Children’s Hospital, said that puberty of children now begins earlier than before.

Children are identified with early puberty for girls when there are signs such as breast development, pubic hair, psychological changes, etc., while boys often break their voices, develop genitals, and appear mustaches. , acne, pubic hair, ejaculation… Females are usually before 8 years old, and males are before 9 years old.

Also according to BS. Huynh Thi Vu Quynh, Children’s Hospital 2, in girls, 90% of precocious puberty is idiopathic. Up to 50% of boys with precocious puberty have neurological lesions. Precocious puberty in boys is more dangerous than in girls.

“Early puberty affects children a lot. Studies show that children with early puberty in adulthood may have depression, the risk of sexual abuse is also higher… In addition, children are at increased risk of chronic diseases, cardiovascular disease, and premature aging when they grow up. adult children”, Dr. Quynh said.

In fact, many mothers who sent their children to the doctor said that, even though they take good care of their children, the baby is not obese but still has early puberty. According to the explanation of BS. Quynh, in this case, genetic factors and genes correlate with the onset of puberty with identical and fraternal twins. Or the relationship of mother and girl, father and boy. There are also cases of idiopathic precocious puberty.

In addition, there are other factors that cause early puberty such as BPA in some types of plastic, the pesticide DDT too much. In particular, children’s early use of cosmetics, body washes and perfumes containing phthalates is also a risk factor for early puberty.

Before the question of many families, whether eating a lot of milk and meat will cause children to have early puberty, Dr. Quynh said that milk and meat are proteins, not steroids (like sex hormones), so they do not cause early puberty. Therefore, the claim that “eating a lot of milk and meat causes early puberty” is not correct. However, eating meat and drinking too much milk can cause obesity. While obesity is classified as a factor causing early puberty.

BS. Quynh also cited a case of signs of puberty since she was still breastfeeding with vaginal bleeding. The unexpected cause was later determined to be due to the mother’s use of estrogen-containing drugs applied to the nipples with a pinking effect. When the baby suckled continuously for many months, was affected.

BS. Ngai said, the appointment of treatment for precocious puberty needs to consider factors such as age of onset, speed of puberty, rate of height growth, prediction of height in adulthood. Family members need to monitor their children for medical examination and prescribe early intervention so that the child can achieve his or her genetic height.