The case in summary: Danish researchers have found that stress during pregnancy can cause children to reach puberty earlier. Children of stressed mothers entered puberty on average one to two months earlier than other children. Early puberty can have negative consequences for health. More than stress can affect the timing of puberty. As a hormone-like substance and mother’s health. The strongest connection between stress and early puberty was found when the mothers were worried about finances and housing. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. From the 1840s until the Second World War, the age for the start of puberty was lowered by over two years in Norway. From around fifteen and a half years, to thirteen and a half years. The researchers believe that the reason for the change is better nutrition, fewer diseases and generally better living conditions. After that, puberty was stable for several decades. – But what has happened in recent years, what explains it? asks professor and senior researcher at FHI, Pétur Benedikt Juliusson. What the professor is talking about are the results from two studies in Bergen. Over the course of ten years, until 2016, the age of puberty dropped by three months. The same is also seen in other countries such as the United States. Now Danish researchers may have found something that could be a new part of the explanation. Everyday stress and emotional stress The Danes looked at data from around 14,000 children and their mothers. During pregnancy, the mothers were asked about two types of stress. Everyday stress, which is, for example, linked to finances, work and illness. And emotional stress, i.e. whether they felt, for example, nervous, exhausted or depressed. Later, the children were asked, among other things, when their breasts and testicles started to grow. The result was clear: The more stress the mother experienced during pregnancy, the higher the risk that the children would reach puberty earlier than others, writes the Danish DR. Children of stressed mothers entered puberty on average one to two months earlier than other children. – In both my pregnancies, I have been very careful not to stress, get a high pulse, ponder and worry. Karoline Espelid Ueland (30) is pregnant with her second child. She has often felt a lot of everyday stress, but the pregnancy has made her calm down more. – I have learned to hurry slowly, she says. The new research makes her extra happy about it. Around daughter Iben’s second birthday, a baby brother comes into the world. Karoline Espelid Ueland is keen to eliminate stress from everyday life now that she is pregnant. Photo: Sindre Eikenes One to two months can mean a lot Puberty a couple of months earlier than the average may sound like a trifle. But in fact, research has shown that early onset of puberty can have negative consequences for health. Like diabetes, high blood pressure and anxiety. Pétur Benedikt Juliusson at FHI emphasizes that there are big differences from child to child, and that it is not necessarily the case that one will have bad health if, for example, one gets one’s period a good while before the cut. In addition to stress, the timing of puberty can be affected by many other things. For example, hormone-like substance. – We know that the mother’s health, or whether the mother smokes, can affect the growth and development of the foetus. It can also have an impact on the individual’s health later in life. Even how the grandparents behaved affects the grandchildren a little. It is a “mind blowing” field. Did you bring this case with you? Find the stress triggers Like Karoline Espelid Ueland, Eline Hjetland Engelsjord (33) is pregnant for the second time now. – I had pregnancy depression last time, but I didn’t realize it until I was a long way along. I was down all the time and cried every day. Now I know more, and feel much, much better. Eline Hjetland Engelsjord is expecting cub number two later this summer. She is doing better now than the last time she was pregnant. Photo: Sven Tore Svardal By nature she is not a stressed person. But she has some triggers. Her best tip for de-stressing is to find and remove these triggers. She herself gets quite restless from having things hanging over her. – I didn’t set any goals. And then I know that I feel better about myself if I’m active and moving. The professor believes there are many indications that exercise should become a larger part of maternity care: She says this pregnancy is busier, because she has a child to concentrate on. Ueland recognizes that. – In my first pregnancy, I could chill all afternoon and evening. Now it takes a while until my daughter is put to sleep. Even though I keep an eye on the heart rate, it is not always possible to avoid him getting a little too high in the everyday stress, says Ueland. At the same time, she has less time for brooding. – During my first pregnancy, I was aware that I was pregnant every single minute. You can get tired of it. Now I have so much to do that I forget that I’m pregnant anymore, she laughs. The Danish researchers found the strongest connection between stress and early puberty when the mothers were worried about finances and housing. And it is actually possible to prevent such concerns, Cecilia Ramlau-Hansen points out to DR. She is a researcher at the University of Aarhus and one of the researchers behind the study. – You can’t remove the woman’s worries. But there is still something that lies outside the woman and with which it might be possible to do something. Published 09/07/2024, at 17.44
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Stress while the baby is in the womb can send children into puberty earlier – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
