{"id":11137,"date":"2026-04-18T12:04:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=11137"},"modified":"2026-04-18T12:04:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:04:39","slug":"stress-bmi-and-hormones-linked-to-earlier-puberty-in-girls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/stress-bmi-and-hormones-linked-to-earlier-puberty-in-girls\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress, BMI, and hormones linked to earlier puberty in girls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Higher levels of key steroid hormones\u2014combined with elevated stress and body mass index (BMI)\u2014are associated with earlier onset of puberty in girls, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings are published in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jcem\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1210\/clinem\/dgag086\/8626260\"><em>The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;Elevated prepuberty urinary levels of glucocorticoids, androgens, and progesterone were strongly linked to accelerated breast development (thelarche). Girls with high glucocorticoid levels alongside high BMI and stress entered puberty&nbsp;an average of seven months earlier&nbsp;than peers with lower levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhile stress and BMI have long been recognized as independent predictors of puberty, few studies have examined how they interact with a girl\u2019s hormones,\u201d said\u00a0Lauren Houghton, PhD, assistant professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School, and first author. \u201cOur findings challenge conventional research that has largely focused on estrogen and body size, highlighting instead the role of stress and androgens \u2013 typically thought of as male hormones&#8211; in shaping pubescent development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The strongest associations were observed for progesterone, androgens, and glucocorticoids, indicating that multiple hormonal pathways\u2014not just estrogen\u2014play a critical role in the timing of puberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Higher glucocorticoid, androgen, and progesterone metabolites were associated with\u00a0earlier onset of puberty<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Elevated androgens and progesterone were also linked to a\u00a0<em>longer duration<\/em>\u00a0of puberty<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Estrogen metabolites were associated with\u00a0<em>delayed onset<\/em>, not acceleration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The effects of hormones on puberty timing were\u00a0significantly modified by BMI and stress levels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0Notably, the associations were consistent regardless of family history of breast cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur objective was to identify the full set of hormonal patterns linked to accelerated puberty and test whether BMI and stress modify this relationship,\u201d said Houghton, who is also assistant professor at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia. \u201cWe predicted that girls with elevated BMI and stress would experience the earliest onset\u2014and that the stress response shifts during this key time for girls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers drew on data from the&nbsp;LEGACY Girls Study, a cohort of 1,040 girls ages 6 to 13 recruited across the U.S. States and Canada. Participants were followed every six months with clinical assessments, questionnaires, and biospecimen collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The analysis included 327 girls who were at the pre-puberty stage at baseline and provided urine samples at least one year before the onset of puberty. Houghton and colleagues measured a comprehensive panel of steroid metabolites using first-morning urine samples and tracked puberty development using validated clinical scales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mothers of the girls completed an Internalizing Composite Scale, which includes subscales for anxiety, depression, and other at-risk status. They also provided information on girls&#8217; family history of all cancers as well as on pregnancy and infancy, including birth weight and their child&#8217;s race and ethnicity. Trained research staff measured height and weight twice every 6 months.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUnlike prior research, this study simultaneously examined hormonal patterns, BMI, and psychosocial stress\u2014captured through standardized behavioral assessments\u2014within the same cohort,\u201d said senior author\u00a0Mary Beth Terry, PhD, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School, and the Herbert Irving Cancer Center, and Silent Spring Institute. \u00a0\u201cInterestingly, we also learned that the associations were consistent regardless of family history of breast cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings may help explain the ongoing trend toward earlier puberty and point to actionable prevention strategies, observed the authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cStress-reducing interventions and healthy lifestyle changes may help delay early puberty and improve long-term health outcomes,\u201d said Houghton. \u2018Because early puberty is linked to increased breast cancer risk later in life, the results have important implications for both pediatric care and public health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Higher levels of key steroid hormones\u2014combined with elevated stress and body mass index (BMI)\u2014are associated with earlier onset of puberty in girls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2155,247,2039],"class_list":["post-11137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsmakers","tag-women-empowerment","tag-womens-health","tag-womens-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11139,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11137\/revisions\/11139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}