As adults, we can all look back on the physical, emotional, and social changes during puberty that can be a roller coaster for children to navigate. Puberty is a key stage during child development; it’s the period when male and female children become sexually mature and typically occurs between ages 10-14 for girls and ages 12-16 for boys. However, previous research has indicated that children in the United States are entering puberty at younger ages and that these children may be at higher risk of developing certain diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, later in life. A better understanding of how early life factors affect puberty development is important for combating earlier puberty onset.
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In a time where 57.4% in the workforce are women and nearly 36% of physicians are women, now is the time to change the healthcare workplace culture surrounding breastfeeding and new mothers. The WHO, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding until children are 6 months of age. Breastfeeding provides health benefits to the mother, with decreased risks of high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, breast and ovarian cancer, as well as for the child, with reduced risks of obesity, asthma, Type 1 diabetes, ear infections and more. Breastfeeding is also an investment in their mental health, saves families money and impacts the country’s economy – $3 billion a year to medicals costs in the US are linked with low rates of breastfeeding. Some studies estimate that increasing breastfeeding levels to near universal levels could prevent up to hundreds of thousands of annual deaths worldwide in children 5 and under and prevent thousands of breast cancer deaths of women worldwide.
Early in my adolescent years, my pediatrician noticed that the iron levels in my blood tests were low, so she prescribed me an iron supplement to take once a day. My new anemia diagnosis scared my mother into buying expensive multivitamins in bulk, and she encouraged me to take two multivitamins every morning because they would “stop diseases from happening”. While these multivitamins did provide the iron I needed, I wondered if taking these broad multivitamins was necessary since I wasn’t deficient in nutrients other than iron. There is a common misconception that taking vitamins and supplements will prevent chronic diseases and improve health outcomes. However, research does not support these wide-ranging health claims.
Some of my fondest memories of growing up are of playing sports. Although I did not become a Division I college or professional athlete, the experience taught me invaluable lessons in perseverance, teamwork, and confidence. Sports wasn’t only beneficial to me. Studies have shown many attributes of youth sport, including structured and consistent physical activity and social support important to childhood development and health and perhaps lower levels of depression. What was a crucial and irreplacable childhood experience for me is unfortunately not equally accessible to all children and adolescents.
It seems that kids are born loving sweets, and in fact, this is true. Across cultures, babies show an innate preference for sweet flavors, which helps them to survive by ensuring that they enjoy the sweet taste of their natural first food, breast milk. Babies also tend to like salty and “energy-dense” foods, and they show a universal dislike of foods that taste bitter. This discourages ingestion of toxic plants or other substances that could be harmful. If babies are born loving sweets and hating vegetables, how can their eating habits become more aligned with what we would consider a healthy diet?
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