Here is a piece of news for all the girls reaching puberty. A new research has found that teenage girls who frequently take sugary drinks start their menstrual periods earlier than those counterparts who do not consumer such drinks.

The study was conducted by the researchers at the Harvard Medical School.

For the study, the researchers involved 5,583 American girls between age group 9 and 14 years and followed them from 1996 to 2001.

The main aim of the study was to find out the co-relation between the age at which girls have their first period and sugar-sweetened drinks.

While following the participants during the said period, the researchers found that the girls who drank over 1.5 servings of sugary drinks per day undergone their first period 2.7 months earlier than those counterparts who consumed two or fewer drinks per week.

Karin Michels, lead study author and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said, “The main concern is about childhood obesity but our study suggests that age of first menstruation occurred earlier, independently of body mass index, among girls with the highest consumption of drinks sweetened with added sugar.”

Health experts say drinks containing added sugar have a higher concentration of glycemic index in comparison to the naturally sweetened drinks like fruit juices. Foods with high-glycemic index led to an instant and rapid surge in the concentration of insulin in the body.

Higher concentrations of insulin can result in higher sex hormones concentrations. According to the researchers, the higher alterations in the concentrations of sex hormones in the body were associated with early start of periods.

Health experts also find association between higher intake of caffeine and earlier periods.