Dr. Suchitra Surve, of the child health research department of the Indian Council of Medical Research, said in her research that there has been an increase in children who are maturing early.

Dr. Guru said that the amount of hormones in the girl’s body is too high for her age, and he said that there are many reasons for this.

“Archana told us that there are two five-kilogram bags of insecticide in her house, and her daughter often plays around them. So this is one of the main reasons for the changes. the hormone in the body of girls,” said the doctor.

Dr. Gurud said that the changes that happen early in the body of young children are called “early puberty”.

Puberty is a stage in which there are changes in the body of a boy or girl, the formation of their sexual organs increases in size so that they can give them the ability to interact with each other.

In the case of boys, there will be hair growth in front of them and in the armpits, and their voice will be thick. As for girls, after hair removal, the nipples will come out, and then they will start menstruating.

Puberty usually starts between 8 and 13 years for girls and between 9 and 14 years for boys.

Dr. Vaishakhi Rustegi, an expert in the chemistry of children and adults, said that in recent years, she has realized that there has been a change in the age of puberty in girls.

“In the past, we used to see girls start menstruating 18 months to three years after seeing the first changes in their bodies. But now, the menstruation comes after three to four months,” she testified. for the BBC.

She added that boys now start growing beards and mustaches within a year and a half after the first signs of puberty, whereas in the past it used to take four years for them to emerge.

Dr. Suchitra Surve, of the child health research department of the Indian Council of Medical Research, said in her research that there has been an increase in children who are maturing early.

The study – conducted by a national research center on 2,000 girls, found that many parents are unable to understand the signs of early puberty.

The Medical Council also examined the causes of puberty and the risk it poses to girls under the age of nine.

In 2020, the Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital in Mumbai and the Center for Child Health Research collaborated to investigate why girls’ puberty has shifted between six and nine.

“60 girls, aged six to nine, experienced early puberty, and some started menstruating at this time,” said Dr Sudha Rau, who works in the hospital’s children’s department.

What causes puberty?

Doctors say that there are many causes of premature puberty, and they say that it cannot be attributed to a single cause, because it is still under investigation.

They agree that pesticides and food preservatives, air pollution and obesity are among the causes.

Dr Prashant Patil, who studies the issue among girls in Mumbai, said obesity is one of the main causes of precocious puberty, and the problem is increasing as a result of the increase in children with obesity during the corona epidemic.

More than 390 million children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 19 will be overweight in 2022, including 160 million who are severely obese, according to the World Health Organization.

Obesity is a serious disease caused by excess fat, which can be harmful to health.

It is measured by looking at body weight demographics, including gender, age, weight and height of the child or adolescent.

Using mobile phones, watching TV and other things with screens more than enough, and lack of exercise are among the reasons for obesity.

Dr. Vaisakhi said that in the past two to three years, every day there are reports of five to six menstruating children in the childcare department.

“I also found that parents said that they experienced changes in their children’s bodies in April, but they started menstruating in June to July. Now there is an increase in the number of boys.” j her.

She added that the amount of time children spend watching the screen indirectly causes puberty.

Both Archana and Rashi’s children are now receiving medication to delay the onset of their periods until they are 10 to 11 years old.

Doctors said that at their age, the children are not smart enough to take care of themselves and clean their bodies during the bleeding.

Doctors have also warned that children who reach puberty early may face memory problems.

Many researches have found that these children’s bodies often show some signs, and their friends may disturb them because of the changes in their bodies.