In recent years, an increase in cases of precocious puberty has been observed in Italy, especially among girls. This phenomenon began to attract the attention of the scientific community during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the number of reported cases increased enormously in Italian clinics. An increase that experts agree is related to various risk factors, such as stress, sedentary lifestyle and too much time spent in front of TV, PC, smartphone and tablet screens.
The pandemic has accelerated the phenomenon
Today, as reported by Repubblica, the incidence of precocious puberty is realigning to 2019, when the growth rate was there but was not as accentuated as during Covid. However, the cases, specify from the Meyer hospital in Florence, “are still high”. In particular, cases of early puberty are increasingly frequent in girls. From the 1950s to today, the date of the first menstruation has been brought forward by a year, dropping from 12 and a half to 11 and a half today.
Possible influencing factors
In addition to the incidence factors already mentioned, experts believe that the increase in cases of precocious puberty may also be influenced by the increase in body mass, the sudden interruption of sporting activity and the increase in stress conditions.
“There is certainly a hereditary component in precocious puberty but the environment can also have a significant impact,” reported Stefano Stagi, who directs Meyer’s auxo-endocrinology, quoted by Repubblica.
As mentioned, exposure to screens also has an influence. The pediatric department of the Bambin Gesù Hospital in Rome conducted a series of interviews with the families of the girls who had access to the services and it emerged that, among them, there was “a significant increase in the use of electronic devices. It can be traced back to to the introduction of Dad, together with the persistence of their use for leisure in free time”, explained Carlo Bizzarri, head of the endocrinology clinic of the Roman pediatric hospital. “The consequences of “screen time” have been studied for some time. For now there is research on mice, in which it has been shown that prolonged exposure to blue light causes puberty to occur earlier in females”, added Carla Bizzarri, head of the pediatric endocrinology clinic at the Roman hospital.
