Parents: The 13-month-old child was weaned and only loves to drink milk beverages. Doctor: Do not blindly supplement the child, avoid eating hormone-containing food.
This newspaper reports on April 21st: "Her mother said this is a shameful matter, unwilling to be interviewed; I think it's nothing, anyway, it has happened, so it should give a reminder to parents in general." This morning, at the Women's Third Department of the Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Wang Zheng (pseudonym) was accompanying his 5-year-old daughter, Little Flower (pseudonym), for an IV drip.
Yesterday, Little Flower underwent surgery due to early menstruation and premature breast development. Currently, her recovery condition is good. Wang Zheng suspects that his daughter's precocious puberty may be related to drinking the popular children's liquid milk beverages on the market.
At the age of 2, her breasts were larger than those of peers.
Today, when the reporter came to the ward, Little Flower lying in the bed remained silent, quietly cooperating with the nurse for the IV drip.
Wang Zheng told the reporter that when Little Flower was 2 years old, he and his wife both noticed that the child's breasts were larger than those of other children of the same age.
"Little Flower drank breast milk after birth and was weaned at 13 months old. Afterward, she only drank some liquid milk beverages popular on the market, and would vomit if given other powdered milk." Wang Zheng said that these milks were all bought from the town supermarket, and he suspected that his daughter's breast development might be related to drinking these liquid milk beverages. Since they didn't expect any problems, they didn't keep any receipts.
These liquid milks were consumed until the child was about 2 years old. When they realized something was wrong, they stopped her from drinking them, and the situation improved afterward.
At the age of 5, she started menstruating, which panicked her parents.
In December last year, Little Flower's breasts developed hard lumps and gradually increased in size, with vaginal bleeding occurring without obvious cause, though not in large amounts, and stopping naturally after 4 days.
Wang Zheng and his wife were very worried, unsure what to do, so they sought examination and treatment at the local maternal and child health hospital but did not achieve ideal results. On April 3rd this year, Little Flower experienced vaginal bleeding again, similar to the first time.
On April 8th, Wang Zheng and his wife brought their daughter to the Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital for consultation. After an ultrasound examination, it was found that the uterus was slightly enlarged, and the cystic mass on the right side of the uterus mostly originated from the ovary. Upon testing, the endocrine hormones were found to be higher than normal levels.
What causes precocious puberty in children?
Professor Luo Jun, director of the Women's Third Department of the Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, introduced that precocious puberty refers to the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics inconsistent with age before the age of 8 in girls and before the age of 9 in boys, namely breast development, periodic vaginal bleeding, the appearance of pubic hair and armpit hair, rapid growth in height and weight, and the development of external genitalia. In male and female children, the incidence rate of precocious puberty is approximately 0.6%, with more cases in females than males, at a ratio of about 5:1.
"Little Flower's precocious puberty might be caused by ovarian tumors," said Luo Jun. Other causes of precocious puberty include: accelerated growth and development due to improved nutrition; consumption of hormone-containing foods; blind supplementation, such as frequently giving children appetite-enhancing and brain-boosting health products; environmental pollution; social psychological factors, such as exposure to newspapers, television, networks, and other content related to sexual development.
If you find that your child shows signs of precocious puberty, don't panic. You should promptly take your child to the hospital's endocrinology department for consultation and not miss the best treatment time. If treatment is too late, the child's bones will have already closed, making height improvement very limited. Generally speaking, treatment becomes less effective when girls reach 13 years old and boys reach 15 years old.
■ Reporter Zhang Chunxiang, Correspondents Qin Wei, Li Yuchen
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Children who are "late talkers", beware of autism
This newspaper reports on April 21st: Huanhuan, at 1 year and 7 months old, still couldn't speak, had no reaction when called by his parents, and always liked to repeatedly spin around and shake his head. Huanhuan's mother wondered, what's wrong with my son? Is he a "late talker"? "This is a typical case of autism!" This morning, at the International Forum on Childhood Autism, Professor Zhong Yan, director of the Children's Health Care Institute at the Provincial Children's Hospital, said that the number of autism cases received in the past three years has nearly tripled.
Zhong Yan introduced that autism is also known as childhood autism. The Children's Health Care Institute of the Provincial Children's Hospital has treated about 560 cases of autistic children in the past five years, especially more in the last two years, about 400 cases, increasing 2.5 times compared to the previous three years. "The cause of autism is currently unclear, usually related to multiple biological factors, genetic factors, viral and immunological factors, perinatal factors, as well as social and psychological factors, etc., and also related to environmental factors and stress."