Girls with an early onset of puberty marked by breast development may be at greater risk for adult obesity, according to researchers at the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati.

In a decade-long study of more than 850 young girls, Dr. Frank Biro reported finding that girls whose onset of puberty is marked by breast development are more likely to be obese by late adolescence than young girls whose first sign of puberty is pubic hair.

"Girls whose initial manifestation of puberty is breast development had greater body mass and body fat one year before puberty as well as throughout puberty," said Biro.

Reporting in the Journal of Pediatrics, he concluded that these adolescents also "may be at greater risk for adult obesity."

Other sources: Journal of Pediatrics