Original Ruan Guangfeng Ruan Guangfeng nutritionist

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Chicken is a kind of meat that we usually eat. Fried chicken, braised chicken, spicy chicken and boiled chicken are all delicious. Besides, chicken wings, chicken legs, chicken gizzards and chicken offal are all delicious.

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Recently, however, Xiaoyu, who is not yet 8 years old in Hangzhou, felt breast swelling and pain. When she took a bath at night, she found that her breasts became bigger. Her family took Xiaoyu to the hospital for examination and was diagnosed with precocious puberty. The doctor said that he has also received many children with precocious puberty in these years, and the youngest is only 5 years old.

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The doctor said that children like Xiaoyu should not eat foods containing hormones, especially chicken, in their daily diet, which will make their children prosperous and develop early.

Chicken is really a hormone, and eating it will lead to precocious puberty? Let’s talk about precocious puberty and diet today

01

What is precocious puberty?

Precocious puberty (PP) refers to that boys have secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 9, girls have secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 8, or girls have menstruation before the age of 10 [1].

According to the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations, precocious puberty can be divided into true precocious puberty and false precocious puberty [2].

True precocious puberty, that is, central precocious puberty (CPP), also known as gonadotropin-releasing hormone-dependent precocious puberty, means that the hypothalamus secretes and releases gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in advance, which activates the pituitary gland to secrete gonadotropin, causes the development of internal and external genitalia and secondary sexual characteristics until the reproductive system matures.

Pseudo-precocious puberty, that is, peripheral precocious puberty, also known as non-gonadotropin-releasing hormone-dependent precocious puberty, refers to the increase of sex steroids to puberty level caused by gonadal tumors, adrenal cortical hyperplasia or other reasons.

Pseudo-precocious children show early secondary sexual characteristics, but they do not have reproductive ability.

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02

What causes can lead to precocious puberty?

The causes of precocious puberty are very complicated, which may be the result of the joint action of many factors. Including genetic factors, diseases, obesity and environmental factors [3]:

1. Genetic factors

Genetic factors are one of the important causes of precocious puberty. At present, it has been confirmed that the mutation of some genes will lead to precocious puberty. Gene polymorphism is also closely related to the onset of puberty, and some loci polymorphism will affect the transcription or expression of genes and the function of gene products. In addition, some hereditary diseases may lead to precocious puberty.

2. Illness

Aside from genetic factors, the main causes of precocious puberty are various diseases.

For example, the most common cause of central precocious puberty is organic diseases of the central nervous system, such as hypothalamic and pituitary tumors or other central nervous system diseases [4]. Some guidelines for diagnosis and treatment also clearly point out that central precocious puberty must be diagnosed, and special attention should be paid to excluding organic CPP caused by nervous system abnormalities and secondary diseases.

Image source [5]

The main causes of pseudoprecocious puberty are also some diseases. For example, hereditary ovarian dysfunction, benign ovarian occupying lesions such as autonomic ovarian cysts, estrogen-secreting adrenal cortical tumors or ovarian tumors, and ectopic human chorionic gonadotropin-secreting tumors may lead to precocious puberty in girls; Congenital adrenal hyperplasia), adrenal cortical tumor or testicular interstitial cell tumor, ectopic HCG secretion tumor, estrogen-producing adrenal cortical tumor or testicular tumor are easy to cause precocious puberty in boys.

Image source [6]

3. Exogenous hormones/environmental interference

Taking a large amount of estrogen, hormone-like substances and endocrine disruptors in the environment, such as phthalate esters, polychlorinated biphenyls and bisphenol A [7], as well as some pesticides and heavy metals, may also lead to precocious puberty in children.

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4. Obesity

More and more evidence shows that childhood obesity increases the risk of puberty precocious puberty, and the risk of girls is significantly higher than that of boys [8].

As you can see, the main cause of precocious puberty is actually some diseases-related reasons. Therefore, the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of precocious puberty suggest that if children really have precocious puberty, they should first check whether there are diseases and other effects.

03

Food can lead to precocious puberty?

In fact, ordinary food and diet are not directly related to precocious puberty.

But as I said before, obesity will increase the risk of precocious puberty [9]. Therefore, the food and diet that can easily lead to obesity have something to do with precocious puberty.

For example, children’s living conditions are much better now than before. They often eat fried food, often drink sweet drinks, and seldom exercise … These are all easy to lead to overweight and obesity, which will increase the risk of precocious puberty from the side.

To say that it has a certain impact, supplements and health care products count as one. Nowadays, many parents will give their children supplements and health care products, such as those that grow taller and promote growth. Hormones are often added to these supplements, which will lead to precocious puberty.

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04

Chicken is full of hormones, which leads to precocious puberty?

The argument that chicken leads to precocious puberty has been widely circulated. The main reason is that chickens now grow fast and come out in 40 days. They are all fast-growing chickens with hormones, which will lead to precocious puberty.

In fact, this statement is completely unwarranted.

The fast-growing chicken we are talking about now belongs to the "fast-growing white feather chicken" [10]. Its rapid growth is the result of improved variety breeding and scientific feeding, and has nothing to do with hormones [11].

This kind of chicken has a high feed conversion rate. It grows fast and is big, and now they eat better feed. These feeds are not just mixed with corn flour and diced Chinese cabbage. They are similar to the "nutritious meals" we often hear now. They are all made by scientific combination of raw materials selection, ingredient ratio, production technology and feeding scheme. Therefore, it can be released in about 40 days now, and the weight can reach 2-3 kg [12].

You can see that from 1957 to 2005, the breeding of chickens has changed [13]

We often see on the Internet and TV that the problem of exposing chickens is actually the abuse of "antibiotics" and has nothing to do with "hormones". If you really take hormones, the health of chickens will be bad, and hormones are quite expensive.

Generally speaking, there are no more hormones in chicken. Precocious puberty really has nothing to do with eating chicken. At present, there is no evidence and case that chicken or other meat may cause precocious puberty in the world, and there is no treatment guide for precocious puberty that says you can’t eat chicken. Moreover, chicken is white meat that is usually said in nutrition. In fact, it is quite good for health, so you don’t have to worry about eating it normally.

However, if you always fry chicken and add a lot of oil when eating chicken, it will lead to too much energy and increase the risk of obesity, so it is wrong to eat it.

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05

How to prevent precocity?

Diet is mainly to prevent obesity, while avoiding accidentally eating hormones. From the perspective of diet and life, it is suggested that:

1. Improve eating habits and prevent overweight and obesity.

More and more evidence shows that childhood obesity increases the risk of precocious puberty, and the risk of girls is significantly higher than that of boys. Parents are advised to help their children improve their eating habits from an early age, develop good eating habits, reduce the intake of high-calorie, fried, high-oil and high-sugar foods, such as eating less fried foods and drinking less sugary drinks, and increasing the variety of foods to help control weight.

Specific to chicken, try to eat less chicken cooked by fried chicken, braised chicken, spicy chicken and other cooking methods, which is oily and high in energy, and boiled and steamed chicken is better; When eating chicken, give priority to chicken breast, which has less fat and can better prevent obesity.

2. Increase physical exercise and physical activity.

This is actually to prevent obesity. By increasing energy consumption, let children do outdoor activities every day instead of always staying at home.

3. Don’t eat supplements and health foods indiscriminately.

There is no need to worry about the hormones in normal food itself. However, many so-called supplements and health products may have added exogenous hormones, which may easily increase the risk of precocious puberty. As long as children eat normally and pay attention to balanced nutrition, most health care products and supplements are unnecessary.

References:

[1] Tan Qian, Huang Lu, Yang Jieping. Research on the emotional situation and influence factors of children’s early sexual maturity [J]. Frontier of Medicine and Medicine, 2020,10(27):8-10.

[2] Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of precocious puberty (for Trial Implementation) [Wei Ban Yi Zheng Fa (195)No. ][J]. China Journal of Child Health, 2011, 19 (4): 390-392.

[3] Sun Yanyan, Yu Jian. Research progress on the etiology of precocious puberty [J]. journal of applied clinical pediatrics Journal, 2011,26(20):1599-1601.

[4] Liang Liyang, Li Fangping. Diagnosis and treatment of precocious puberty [J]. Drug Evaluation, 2016,13(03):27-31.

[5] Endocrine Genetics and Metabolism Group of Pediatrics Branch of Chinese Medical Association. Consensus on diagnosis and treatment of central precocious puberty [J]. Chinese Journal of Pediatrics, 2015, 53(6): 412-418.

[6] Chen Ruimin. Research progress on the etiology of peripheral precocious puberty [J]. journal of applied clinical pediatrics Journal, 2012,27(20):1545-1547.

[7] Jing Xu. Study on the correlation between precocious puberty in children and lifestyle and family factors [D]. Zhejiang: Hangzhou Normal University, 2017.

[8] Puberty Group of Women’s Health Branch of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association. Consensus on diagnosis and treatment of female precocious puberty [J]. chinese journal of woman and child health research, 2018,29(2):135-138.

You Xiaomeng, Shan Chuan, Shen Xiuhua. Research progress of childhood obesity and precocious puberty [J]. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Medical Edition), 2012,32(7):949-951.

[10] Boya. Fast-growing broilers will still be the leading variety of broiler production in China [J]. Agricultural Knowledge (Scientific Breeding), 2013,(9):16-16.

[11] AARON Li, Du Zhiqiang, Wang Shouzhi, et al. The past, present and future of white feather broiler breeding [J]. China Poultry, 2016,38(19):1-8.

[12] Gao Lin, Bai Zijin. On the technical system of healthy and ecological breeding of fast and large white feather broilers [J]. Journal of Shenyang Agricultural University (Social Science Edition), 2015,17(2):213-218.

[13] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/12/our-insatiable-appetite-for-cheap-white-meat-is-making-chickens-unrecognizable/.

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　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 7th: Sharing the great dream of human society and creating a bright future for human development — — The congratulatory letter from the Chairman of the Supreme Leader to the first "South-South Human Rights Forum" aroused enthusiastic response from Chinese and foreign guests attending the meeting.

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Huang Xiaoxi, Ding Xiaoxi and Sun Yi

　　"The cause of human rights must and can only be promoted in accordance with the national conditions and people’s needs of all countries. Developing countries should adhere to the principle of combining the universality and particularity of human rights and constantly improve the level of human rights protection. "

　　In the middle of winter, the golden hall of the Great Hall of the People is filled with spring-like warmth. The congratulatory letter from the Supreme Leader of president to the first "South-South Human Rights Forum" aroused enthusiastic response among Chinese and foreign guests attending the meeting.

　　South-South Cooperation: The development of global human rights needs the joint efforts of developing countries.

　　"In modern times, people in developing countries have waged long-term struggles and efforts for national liberation and national independence, freedom and equality, dignity and happiness, and peace and development, and made great contributions to the development of human rights in the world." Chairman of the Supreme Leader said in his congratulatory letter.

　　The firm and powerful words won the high recognition of the guests. Respondents said that the vast number of developing countries adhere to the road of human rights development in line with their national conditions, and the level of human rights protection has been continuously improved. At the same time, influenced by domestic and international, economic and political factors, the human rights cause in developing countries is still facing challenges. The vast number of developing countries should strengthen their faith and confidence on the road of human rights and continuously improve the well-being of their own people in promoting the progress of human rights cause.

　　"Hold the first ‘ South-South Human Rights Forum ’ It is very meaningful to provide a platform for developing countries to promote the development of human rights. " Li Buyun, member of Honorary Faculty of China Academy of Social Sciences, believes that in the past five years, China has put forward many new ideas, carried out many new practices and accumulated many new experiences. Through this forum, China’s valuable experience can be shared with the world.

　　In today’s world, the population of developing countries accounts for more than 80%. In his congratulatory letter, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader emphasized that the development of global human rights cannot be separated from the joint efforts of developing countries.

　　In the view of Sade Alfaraji, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the right to development, South-South cooperation has many opportunities and great potential. "There are many opportunities for cooperation between South and South countries in the field of development. For the vast number of developing countries, South-South cooperation provides a new resource channel, and unlike traditional aid, there are no conditions attached. South-South cooperation can help developing countries fully realize their right to development in an innovative way. "

　　Surinamese Foreign Minister Iltis Deborah Pollack-Bahler deeply agreed that "the development of global human rights cannot be separated from the joint efforts of developing countries".

　　"For many years, we have been used to the situation that the human rights field is dominated by the West, but today we see that the world is developing towards multipolarization." She believes that in this context, South-South cooperation is imperative, and the vast number of developing countries must seize the opportunity to contribute to the realization of a new human rights paradigm and jointly deal with the problems existing in the human rights cause. "If we want no one to fall behind, we must turn our promises into reality through close partnership."

　　People First: The development of human rights in China has injected new impetus into making new contributions to the cause of human progress.

　　In his congratulatory letter, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader pointed out that the governments of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China adhere to the people-centered development thought, always put the people’s interests in the supreme position, take the people’s yearning for a better life as the goal, and constantly improve the level of respecting and safeguarding the basic rights of the people of China.

　　Tom Zwart, director of the Intercultural Human Rights Center of the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, was deeply impressed by China’s achievements in strengthening the rule of law, accurate poverty alleviation, people’s health and medical care. "The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China shows that with the efforts of the people of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China, China has entered a new era. One area that stands out in this new era is the field of human rights. "

　　"Human rights is to make people live a better life. Adhering to the people-centered development thinking and taking the people’s yearning for a better life as the goal is the most direct manifestation of the respect and protection of human rights by the governments of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and China. " After listening to the congratulatory letter from the Chairman of the Supreme Leader, Li Yunlong, a professor at the International Strategy Institute of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said.

　　"The The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held not long ago painted a grand blueprint for the development of China, which will surely promote the development of human rights in China and make new and greater contributions to the cause of human progress." Chairman of the Supreme Leader said in his congratulatory letter.

　　The congratulatory letter from the Chairman of the Supreme Leader resonated with the Acting Justice of Guyana Court of Appeal, Younette Decina Cummings Edwards. "The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China drew a blueprint for the future of China, which not only made plans for China’s economic and social development, but also provided impetus and opportunities for international cooperation and common development. We are very inspired by China’s development concept. In Guyana, we regard economic development as the focus of improving people’s well-being. "

　　"China is a strong partner in Zambian development." Victor Muennuwe Mukonka, director of Zambia’s national public health agency, said that any problem must be solved in development, and development should seek motivation from the people, increase investment in human resources, and at the same time make the fruits of development benefit the people and let them enjoy the rights and interests of health, medical care, housing and education through development. China’s people-centered development concept is worth learning from other developing countries.

　　Make concerted efforts to build a community of human destiny so that everyone can fully enjoy human rights.

　　"It is a great dream of human society for everyone to fully enjoy human rights." In the congratulatory letter, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader stated that the people of China are willing to make concerted efforts with the people of other countries, including developing countries, to promote development through cooperation, promote human rights through development, and jointly build a community of human destiny.

　　The important idea of building a community of human destiny put forward by the Chairman of the Supreme Leader provides a Chinese plan for promoting the development of global human rights governance in a more just and reasonable direction, and stirs up the strength and hope to share the great dream of human society and create a better future for human development.

　　"China has contributed a lot to the world in politics, economy, culture, society and other aspects from proposing to jointly build a community of human destiny to practicing this concept." Francisco Motta, director of the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa Bureau of the Resident Operations and Cooperation Department of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, "Building a community of human destiny means that no individual is allowed to fall behind, and no society, country or nation is allowed to fall behind. China has contributed a lot of wisdom in promoting global justice and equality. The community of human destiny is such wisdom and has been recognized globally. "

　　In the congratulatory letter, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader clearly pointed out that the international community should respect and reflect the wishes of the people of developing countries in the spirit of justice, fairness, openness and tolerance.

　　In this regard, Andrei van de Braque, a professor at the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, said that in the past, when people mentioned human rights, they might think more of some Western values. "But building a community of human destiny provides people with new opportunities and perspectives. Every country has its own national conditions and stages of development. Human rights are not only expressed in the West, but also understood by the East and developing countries. Building a community of human destiny is an opportunity for different cultures and countries to strengthen understanding, communication and cooperation. "

　　"Human rights are the common discourse and common standard of civilization in the 21st century. Under such an era background, it is timely to promote the development of human rights by building a community of human destiny." Li Yunlong said that the international community should abandon incorrect ideas and practices such as unilateralism and hegemonism, and promote the building of a community of human destiny through cooperation and mutual assistance. Developed countries should make greater efforts to help developing countries, and developing countries should also have more cooperation to achieve greater development.