From watching TV or playing video games to surfing the internet, our kids are exposed to more of the world than ever before.  Is it no wonder that kids today are actually maturing faster than past generations?

A recent study from the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital reports that toddler girls who are overweight at age 3 and continue to gain weight over the next three years reach puberty earlier with earlier breast development, earlier onset of menstruation and are at risk for other medical problems like diabetes and other adult related conditions.  

So what does this mean?

It means that young girls who are overweight tend to mature faster.  Faster than their peers and other friends, faster than the boys and are at risk for psychosocial problems….being teased by their classmates because of their growing breasts, being mistaken for teenagers when they’re only 9 or 10 years old and greater pressure on parents to have a candid discussion about sexual education much earlier than most of us expect. 

Can you imagine talking with your 9 year old daughter, niece or granddaughter about sex and her changing body when other parents are spending their time talking about where they’re going on their next vacation?

Can you imagine walking in the mall with your daughter and explaining to young teenage boys that your daughter is too young for them….that’s she’s still in elementary school…and not in middle school or even high school?

So what can you do? 

How can you stop your daughter, your niece, your granddaughter or a friend’s young daughter from having to deal with the pressures of growing up too fast?  How can you lower their risk of obesity related conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and even cancer?

Here’s how:

Make healthy eating a family affair.  Substitute high calorie sugary cereals with whole grain options like Cheerios.  Use whole wheat pasta, brown rice or whole-grain bread instead of regular pasta, white rice or white bread.

Adopt a lifestyle change early.  It’s never too early to start teaching your children about healthier, more nutritious options…instead of buying potato chips or sodas….buy carrot sticks, make apple slices, keep bananas on hand and encourage low-fat milk or 100% fruit juices.

Set an example.  Our kids look to us and how we eat…..how we enjoy life…. how we live our lives….and we’re in control and in charge when it comes to how our kids view food and exercise.  Reinforce healthy food choices, prepare meals with your kids and help them make good decisions about what they eat when at school or when the family is eating out. 

This new study really opened my eyes when it comes to my own cousins whose bodies look like grown women.  If I passed them in the mall, I’d think they were in their late teens and they’re only 13!  We have to be aware that our girls may be maturing faster physically but that their emotional and social maturity may be years away. 

So take this to heart. Help our girls stay young as long as they can….let them enjoy being young.  Because soon enough they’ll have the weight of the world on their shoulders.

To your wellness,

The Health and Wellness Queen

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 12:11 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.