A girl’s genes affect when she will get her first period, and many of these genes cause childhood weight gain, which is a risk factor for early puberty, according to a University of Cambridge study.
In the largest-ever genetic study of puberty onset in girls, published on Monday in Nature Genetics, researchers analyzed the DNA of around 800,000 women. They identified 1,000 DNA changes that influence the age at which a girl will have her first menstrual period. Forty-five percent of these DNA changes are involved in early-childhood weight gain.
