Kong Yuanyuan, a doctor at Beijing Maternal and Child Healthcare Hospital's early sexual maturity clinic, said early maturity in Chinese children is as high as 1 percent, nearly 10 times the rate in most Western countries.

National statistics on the number of children with early maturity have not been compiled and there are no plans to do so, according to the Chinese Medical Association.

Early sexual maturity refers to a condition in which girls develop secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 8 and boys before they reach 9. Meanwhile, the average age of reaching puberty is 10 for girls and 12 for boys.

Kong attributed the condition to the rising amount of estrogen in the food chain as a result of pesticides being sprayed on fruit and vegetables.

Chinese authorities have been working to strengthening food safety management since last year. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the Food Safety Law on Feb 28, 2009. The State Council passed enforcement regulations of the law in July of the same year.

In the past two months the Ministry of Health has issued a series of regulations to restrict food additive usage. For example, food flavoring essence is banned from being used in infant food.

Nevertheless, Chen Junshi, a researcher with the nutrition and food safety department at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in his blog that, "China has 200 million scattered rural households that produce food, and has more than 500,000 small and medium food processors."

It is impossible to ensure that they all have enough scientific knowledge and law-abiding awareness to meet all the food regulations, he wrote.