Dietary Contribution to the Development of Precocious Puberty in Children

Abstract

This study examined seven dietary factors contributing to precocious puberty in 200 children, with an age and gender-matched control group of 200 healthy children. The case group was classified according to Traditional Chinese Medicine principles; their dietary habits were investigated by questionnaire, with dietary statistics compiled for each Traditional Chinese Medicine evidence group. The χ2 test revealed a statistically significant higher exposure in the case group to five factors, namely frequent consumption of nutritional supplements, foods with high hormone content, anti-seasonal fruits and vegetables, products with high trace elements of zinc, and foods packaged in plastic (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). The results of logistic regression analysis showed that frequent consumption of nutritional supplements (odds ratio = 13.558), foods containing high levels of hormones (odds ratio = 11.829), anti-seasonal fruits and vegetables (odds ratio = 8.114), products containing high trace elements of zinc (odds ratio = 6.734 ), and plastic wrapped food (odds ratio = 3.419) were high-risk factors; the order of preference in dietary habits was as follows: salty > greasy > sweet > spicy > cold > hot > light.