Sugar, aspartame (equal), sucralose (Splenda) and glycyrrhizin (liquorice root) were all associated with a significantly higher risk of early puberty. The more of these sweeteners the teens consumed, the greater the risk, the study found.

Early puberty can lead to emotional distress, shorter adult height and increased risk of future metabolic and reproductive disorders, according to the study.

The results highlight “the importance of personalised nutrition and public health awareness,” Yang-Ching Chen, a professor of family medicine at Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital and Taipei Medical University in Taiwan and the study’s lead author, says.

“This suggests that what children eat and drink, especially products with sweeteners, may have a surprising and powerful impact on their development,” Chen said in a press release.

Chen said the findings are relevant for parents, paediatricians and public health authorities. “Screening for genetic risk and moderating sweetener intake could help prevent early puberty and its long-term health consequences.”

Puberty typically starts between ages 9 and 14 in boys and 8 and 13 in girls, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Chen presented the study on July 13 at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, California. Chen said that the study is currently under revision for publication in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation.

Chen’s prior research showed that some sweeteners can influence hormones and gut bacteria linked to early puberty, according to the press release.

The new study included data from 1,407 teens who participated in the Taiwan Pubertal Longitudinal Study, which launched in 2018. Nearly 500 of the teens (481) were diagnosed with central precocious puberty, a condition that causes early sexual development.

Participants completed questionnaires to determine how much and what kinds of added sweeteners they consumed. Researchers tested the teens’ urine samples and did genetic risk testing to determine if any of the teens were genetically predisposed to early puberty.

Using statistical analyses, researchers figured out that aspartame, sucralose, glycyrrhizin and added sugars were significantly linked to a higher risk of early puberty, particularly in teens who had genetic traits that predisposed them to developing early sexually.

They also found gender differences when looking at how the sweeteners were linked to increased risk of early puberty, Chen said. Sucralose especially increased boys’ early puberty risk, while sucralose, glycyrrhizin and added sugars increased girls’ risk.

According to Chen, the 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.”

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report named artificial sweeteners as one of the possible contributors to the US childhood chronic disease epidemic. In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that aspartame is “possibly carcinogenic” and ineffective for weight loss.

An industry lobbying group paid health professionals to promote aspartame on social media to counter the WHO’s assessment, according to an investigation by The Washington Post.

The payments, made as part of the American Beverage Association’s “Safety of Aspartame” campaign, were a new tactic by the multibillion-dollar food and beverage industry to influence consumers.

Dozens of studies have linked aspartame to serious health issues, including cancer, seizures, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and dementia, according to US Right to Know.

• A Tell Media report / By Suzanne Burdick – a reporter and researcher for The Defender