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More than the dig out from being buried under tons of snow is going on in Boston right now. Researchers there are trying to explain why some girls reach puberty so early. Researchers at Harvard say there may be a link between this trend of early puberty onset and soda consumption. Bottom-line, girls who drink a lot of soda and sugary drinks may reach puberty quicker than girls who don’t a conclusion they arrived at after tracking over 5,000 girls ages nine to 14 for five years. They found that the youth who drank more than one-and-a-half servings of sugary drinks a day had their first period almost three months earlier than those who drank less. The researchers say the results were not related to food consumption, exercise or body size.

The author of the study said the results were important because starting periods early is a risk factor for depression during adolescence, and breast cancer during adulthood.  The reason why sugary drinks may trigger an early period remains unclear. Speaking on NBC’s Today Show on Wednesday morning, one doctor attempted to explain the sugary link saying that it may be the sugar triggering insulin and that insulin then triggering early periods. The moral of the story is to cut this back from kid’s diets.  

To read more on this story, click HERE

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