All this study does, she said, is "It confirms that obesity has
effects on children's growth and development for both genders."
Several researchers noted that early puberty has been shown to
have an effect on fertility, and having more sex hormones may
have an impact on future cancer risks. Tom Baranowski, a
professor of pediatrics specializing in behavioral nutrition at
the Baylor College of Medicine, explained that the problem may
come for boys who hit puberty earlier than their peers rather
than those who see it delayed. "The fear has been that the boys
who experience puberty earlier would not have peers they could
bounce their experience off of," he said. "They're forced into
probably doing upwards comparisons. There's a risk that they run
of running into children we might not prefer that they talk to."
Explaining exactly how obesity affects puberty may be far off,
but one benefit of the study, Lee said, is it alerts parents to
more immediate effects of obesity, rather than the further off
risks like card