China Daily
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出版日期： 九月 10, 2007
Kids mature faster due to diet, porn
Kids are growing up faster because of nu tritious food and access to pornography, doctors claim.
Kids are growing up faster because of nu tritious food and access to pornography, doctors claim.
The number of children experiencing the early onset of puberty has doubled over the past 10 years, according to a survey analy zing children''s endocrine diseases by the Women and Children''s Hospital of Guangdong Province.
The survey found the average age for the onset of puberty of Guangzhou''s children dropped to 11 years old from the previous age of 13.
Based on those figures, the frequency of earlier puberty among children in Guangzho u also rose to 1.3 percent this year, from 0.5 percent 10 years ago. This is 0.3 percent higher than the national average.
This means that in some cases, boys as y oung as nine-and-a-half, and girls as young as eight are developing secondary sexual characteristics.
"There are a few reasons why more childr en are experiencing the early onset of pube rty," said Zeng Ke, a senior doctor at the incretion department of the Women and Children''s Hospital of Guangdong Province.
He said Guangzhou''s citizens have a ric h diet, including nourishing soups, seafood and animal innards.
Parents also give their children supplem ents, such as deer antler and ginseng extracts.
These foods, Zeng said, are high in prot ein or essential elements and accelerate children''s growth.
"Western fast foods, such as burgers and fries from McDonalds or KFC, are favored b y children and can increase their developme nt," Li Wangen, a doctor at the Second Affi liated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College, said.
The other reason for early development i s improper sex education, Zeng said. Childr en have easy access to books, movies or music that are pornographic.
If parents do not protect their children from exposure to pornographic material the y will become sexually precocious, Zeng said.
The survey found the number of children with the onset of early puberty was less in rural areas than in the city.