《TAIPEI TIMES》 Researchers link sweet drinks to early puberty

HEIGHT DIFFERENCE: Participants who reported early puberty were 3cm to 5cm shorter than those who did not, a researcher from Taipei Medical University said

By Yang Yuan-ting and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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Drinking more than one sweetened beverage per day could lead to early puberty in children, but the risk might be mitigated by drinking two cups of probiotic beverages per day, a Taiwanese medical study showed.

The study, which tracked the development of 2,819 children of both sexes from age 11 to 18, showed that children who consumed more than 480ml of sweetened beverages per day underwent puberty six months earlier than their peers.

Study participants who reported early puberty were 3cm to 5cm shorter than those who did not, said Chen Yang-ching （陳揚卿）, an assistant professor in Taipei Medical University’s Graduate Institute of Metabolism and Obesity Science and a coauthor of the study.

Precocious puberty is linked to heightened risk of metabolic syndromes, fatty liver, cardiovascular diseases, breast cancer and mental health problems including depression, Chen said, adding that children with the condition can be treated.

The study found that drinking 480ml of probiotic beverages per day appeared to alleviate early puberty via an unknown mechanism likely related to the gut microbiome, she said, adding that further research was planned.

The study was published in the journal Public Health.

Children should not consume more than 25g of sugar per day, WHO guidelines say.

Sugary beverages can be substituted with natural juice or soymilk, Chen said.

The research was funded by the National Science and Technology Council and conducted in collaboration with Lee Yung-ling （李永凌）, an assistant researcher at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Chen said.

A total of 30.9 million liters of carbonated drinks were sold in Taiwan last year, a 52 percent increase from 20.3 million liters the previous year, Ministry of Economic Affairs data showed.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES