Early maturity linked to pesticides, say experts

BEIJING - Chinese experts have claimed that early maturity in children is linked to pesticides even as parents across the country are concerned over milk powder produced by a Chinese company that is alleged to have caused three girls to grow breasts.

Three female infants Aug 9 in Wuhan of central China’s Hubei province were reported suffering abnormal sexual development. Doctors and parents suspected the milk powder they had been using contained sex hormones, China Daily reported Wednesday.

Though the health ministry said Sunday that its investigation found no evidence that the formula made by NASDAQ-listed Synutra caused the babies to develop breasts, concerns over children’s health came to the forefront in some Chinese cities.

In Shanghai, experts estimated at least 30,000 children developed early maturity in the city, the report said.

Shanghai paediatrician Huang Xiaodong said that around 20 percent of sexually precocious children he had treated were younger than two years old.

Kong Yuanyuan, a doctor at Beijing Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital’s early sexual maturity clinic, said early maturity in Chinese children is as high as one percent, nearly 10 times the rate in most Western countries.

Kong attributed the condition to the rising amount of estrogen in the food chain as a result of pesticides being sprayed on fruit and vegetables.

Early sexual maturity refers to a condition in which girls develop secondary sexual characteristics before the age of eight and boys before they reach age of nine. Meanwhile, the average age of reaching puberty is 10 for girls and 12 for boys.

In the past two months, the ministry of health has issued a series of regulations to restrict food additive usage. For example, food flavouring essence is banned from being used in infant food.