Sweeteners can crop up in everything from squash and fizzy drinks to desserts, sweets and even ready meals – and a new study warns they could be increasing the risk of early puberty in children.

In the UK, there are several sweeteners approved for use, such as: acesulfame K, aspartame, erythritol, saccharin, sorbitol, steviol glycosides, sucralose and xylitol.

Research presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco this month suggested consuming aspartame, sucralose, glycyrrhizin and added sugars was “significantly associated” with a higher risk of early puberty, especially in children with certain genetic traits.

The more of these sweeteners the teens consumed, the higher their risk of central precocious puberty (early puberty), researchers claimed.

Dr Yang-Ching Chen, of Taipei Municipal Wan Fang Hospital and Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, said: “This study is one of the first to connect modern dietary habits – specifically sweetener intake – with both genetic factors and early puberty development in a large, real-world cohort.”

What does ‘early puberty’ mean?

Puberty is when a child’s body begins to develop and change as they become an adult. This typically happens around the age of 11 for girls and 12 for boys – although it may happen sooner or later.

If puberty begins before the age of eight in girls, and nine in boys, this is known as precocious puberty. When this occurs, parents are advised to speak to their........

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