Girls' diets strongly influence when they begin puberty
The foods consumed during childhood may hold more power than previously thought. While body size and genetics have long been scrutinized for their roles in the onset of puberty, a recent study shifts the focus to diet.
The study reveals that what girls eat could shape when they enter puberty. Those with nutrient-rich diets tend to start menstruating later than peers who consume more inflammatory foods.
Diet plays a role in puberty timing
What you eat may carry more weight than how much you weigh. This study reveals that the timing of menarche – a girl’s first period – is more closely tied to dietary patterns than to BMI or height, traditionally considered strong predictors of puberty onset.
The implications are profound. Girls who enter puberty earlier may find themselves more vulnerable to a host of health issues in adulthood – diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and breast cancer.
“I think our findings highlight the need for all children and adolescents to have access to healthy meal options, and the importance of school-based breakfasts and lunches being based on evidence-based guidelines,” said Holly Harris, MPH, ScD, associate professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
A study that spans generations
The findings draw from the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), a vast dataset capturing over 7,500 children in two cohorts – one beginning in 1996, the other in 2004.
The researchers tracked participants, aged 9 to 14, for years, watching how diet intersected with the onset of menarche.
Past research pegged BMI as a major driver of early menarche. This study flips that narrative, asking whether dietary patterns, rather than body size, hold the key to when girls enter puberty.
Research on diet and puberty
Professor Harris connects this study to her earlier work on inflammatory diets and breast cancer.
“In previous work that we had conducted in the Nurses’ Health Study II, an ongoing prospective cohort, we observed a higher risk of breast cancer among people who consumed an inflammatory-promoting diet during adolescence and early adulthood,” said Professor Harris.
”Following these results we were interested in understanding whether earlier life dietary intake might influence breast cancer through impact on risk factors for breast cancer that occur between early life and breast cancer, such as age at menarche.”
“This led to the current study where we examined the impact of dietary patterns on age at menarche.”
How diet affects puberty timing
Dietary data were collected before menarche, allowing researchers to establish a baseline of eating habits. Rather than simply cataloging what the girls consumed, the researchers framed those diets against two specific indices to better understand the impact of nutrition on menarche timing.
The first index, the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), assigns higher scores to diets abundant in vegetables, legumes, and whole grains while penalizing those rich in red meat and trans fats. The AHEI is designed to highlight overall diet quality, emphasizing foods linked to long-term health benefits.
In contrast, the Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern (EDIP) focuses on inflammation. This index assesses diets based on their potential to promote or reduce inflammation, spotlighting foods known to trigger inflammatory responses, such as processed meats, refined grains, and sugary drinks.
By using both indices, the researchers could distinguish between overall diet quality and the specific inflammatory effects of certain foods, providing a more nuanced view of how diet might influence the onset of menarche.
Nutrient-rich diets delay menstruation
The analysis drew stark contrasts. Girls with the highest AHEI scores – those eating the healthiest diets – were eight percent less likely to begin menstruating within the next month than those with the least nutritious diets.
But the reverse held for those scoring high on the EDIP. With diets high in inflammatory foods, they were 15% more likely to start menstruating soon.
BMI and height didn’t sway these findings. Diet stood alone as a significant predictor of menarche timing.
“We observed that these two dietary patterns were associated with age at menarche, indicating that a healthier diet was linked to menstrual periods starting at an older age,” said Professor Harris.
So, could inflammation hold the key to the body’s clock? The researchers speculate that diets loaded with inflammatory foods might accelerate menarche, while those rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients could press pause, delaying puberty’s onset.
Puberty, diet, and beyond
What comes next? The team plans to extend their analysis, investigating how dietary patterns during childhood and adolescence might shape menstrual cycles in adulthood.
While the dataset is robust, certain gaps remain. The data relied on self-reported diet and menarche age, which can introduce recall bias.
Additionally, the study’s predominantly white cohort limits the generalizability of the findings. Direct measurements of body fat were also absent, leaving BMI as a proxy for body composition.
More than a nutritional choice
Encouraging nutrient-dense diets rich in vegetables, whole grains, and nuts may do more than improve overall health – it can potentially delay puberty by postponing menarche.
Foods like leafy greens, legumes, and whole grains reduce inflammation and regulate hormones, while processed meats and sugary drinks may accelerate puberty through increased inflammation.
Delaying menarche can lower lifelong exposure to estrogen, reducing risks of chronic diseases such as breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Thus, shifting dietary patterns during childhood and adolescence may not only support immediate health but also influence the biological timeline, lowering long-term disease risk.
The study is published in the journal Human Reproduction.
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