PUBERTY IN GIRLS IS GETTING EARLIER
THERE’S been a 50-year-old trend for girls to start puberty earlier but now it’s been brought forward by about a year. Puberty generally begins between eight and 13 years in girls and nine and 14 years for boys.
A new The age of puberty study by a in girls is falling Danish team took the development of breast tissue (thelarche) as their marker for puberty rather than the start of periods because that can happen later on.
Having examined data from 30 studies for which girls had their breast tissue expertly assessed, they worked out that since 1977, girls have, on average, been reaching this milestone about three months earlier with every passing decade.
The study didn’t set out to explain why puberty is creeping forward, but the authors suggest that since higher body mass index has been linked to the earlier development of glandular breast tissue, the ongoing global obesity epidemic could be a partial explanation for this change in pubertal age.
GUT INSTINCT FIGHTING FLAB
SCIENTISTS are trying to create a probiotic that can be given to obese people instead of gastric bypass operations.
It follows a study of bypass patients at Arizona State University which found overweight people have fewer microbes in their gut.
They were examining the role of gut bacteria on weight.
TAKE A HIKE TO SHED POUNDS
LEAVING the house once a day for exercise is permitted during the lockdown – but how many calories will you shed?
Depending on size, you can expect to burn 148 to 558 calories in an hour’s walk.
If you weigh 9st and walk on the flat at 2.5mph, you will burn about 224 – rising to
354.