How childhood obesity brings forward puberty and could harm a woman's baby chances

How childhood obesity brings forward puberty and could harm a woman's baby chances Childhood obesity could be having a profound effect on reproduction, experts say.Researchers fear it could be triggering the early onset of puberty, leading to a diminished ability to reproduce - particularly in women.Experts say that there is still much to learn about the effects of obesity

 and puberty, as well as its effects on the liver, pancreas and other endocrine glands.But in general puberty is starting earlier in girls and the problem is accelerating, reports journal Frontiers in Endocrinology. Professor Patrick Chappell, of Oregon State University, said: 'The issue of so many humans being obese is very recent in evolutionary terms, and since nutritional status is important to reproduction, metabolic syndromes caused by obesity may profoundly affect reproductive capacity.'Either extreme of the spectrum, anorexia or obesity, can be associated with reproduction problems.'