A new study by the scientists at the University of Bristol now finds that children who enter puberty early have the strongest bones as adults. Researchers studying thousands of children from Britain, taking bone scans over a span of 15 years to come to the conclusion. Considered to be the first of its kind, the study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's Network Open.
According to a story published in Daily Mail, the study experts found the later a child hit puberty, the weaker their bones were.
According to them, bone strength starts to halt in the early twenties and therefore, those who hit puberty late have weaker bones in their adult life. This in turn could be a crucial factor as to why certain adults go on to develop conditions like osteoporosis later on.
Researchers calculated the age a child hit puberty by looking when the youngster had their largest growth-spurt and found that children who hit puberty earliest had 12 per cent more bone strength during the period than those who hit it later. The age for early onset of puberty in girls was 10.5 years and for boys it was 12.5 years.
Study authors further found that teenagers who had their pubertal growth spurt delayed, however, did manage to catch up to their peers to some degree, with their bones acquiring density at a much quicker speed when they reached 18 years of age.
However, by 25, those who hit puberty later still had almost five per cent less bone strength than those who hit puberty early.
Speaking about the study, lead author Dr Ahmed Elhakeem said, "I'd like to see more advice available for people who reach puberty later on measures they can take to strengthen their bones. The next steps should involve more detailed assessments of the long-term effects of puberty on growth and bone development."
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