'Prenatal precocious puberty' children 2.6 times in 10 years ↑

The number of children suffering from precocious puberty, a disease in which secondary sexual characteristics appear early, has increased 2.6 times in the past decade.

According to the data received by Rep. Park Hee-seung of the Democratic Party of Korea from the National Health Insurance Corporation, the number of precocious puberty patients surged 160% from 96,700 in 2014 to 251,500 last year.

This year, more than 194,000 people have already been diagnosed by July.

The causes of precocious puberty are westernized eating habits, childhood obesity, and environmental hormones, with girls accounting for 80.7% last year.