Based on short-term nitrogen balance studies, the Recommended Dietary Allowance of protein for a healthy adult with minimal physical activity is currently 0.8 g protein per kg body weight (BW) per day. To meet the functional needs such as promoting skeletal-muscle protein accretion and physical strength, dietary intake of 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6 g protein per kg BW per day is recommended for individuals with minimal, moderate, and intense physical activity, respectively. Long-term consumption of protein at 2 g per kg BW per day is safe for healthy adults, and the tolerable upper limit is 3.5 g per kg BW per day for well-adapted subjects. Chronic high protein intake (>2 g per kg BW per day for adults) may result in digestive, renal, and vascular abnormalities and should be avoided. The quantity and quality of protein are the determinants of its nutritional values. Therefore, adequate consumption of high-quality proteins from animal products (e.g., lean meat and milk) is essential for optimal growth, development, and health of humans.

Based on short-term nitrogen balance studies, the Recommended Dietary Allowance of protein for a healthy adult with minimal physical activity is currently 0.8 g protein per kg body weight (BW) per day. To meet the functional needs such as promoting skeletal-muscle protein accretion and physical strength, dietary intake of 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6 g protein per kg BW per day is recommended for individuals with minimal, moderate, and intense physical activity, respectively. Long-term consumption of protein at 2 g per kg BW per day is safe for healthy adults, and the tolerable upper limit is 3.5 g per kg BW per day for well-adapted subjects. Chronic high protein intake (>2 g per kg BW per day for adults) may result in digestive, renal, and vascular abnormalities and should be avoided. The quantity and quality of protein are the determinants of its nutritional values. Therefore, adequate consumption of high-quality proteins from animal products (e.g., lean meat and milk) is essential for optimal growth, development, and health of humans.

A high protein diet cannot be separated from a high fat diet, they go hand in hand. A diet rich in animal products is automatically a diet rich in fat.

Now, having said that, the most important predictor for an early menarche onset is meat intake and animal protein intake (both!):

Rogers IS, Northstone K, Dunger DB, Cooper AR, Ness AR, Emmett PM. Diet throughout childhood and age at menarche in a contemporary cohort of British girls. Public Health Nutr. 2010 Dec;13(12):2052-63.

Early menarche causes early closing of growth cartilage, girls continue to grow only one year after menarche.

So the right question is: why animal products (protein and fat) cause an early stop in growth (menarche), not its slowdown.

And the answer is:

1. Meat in diet

2. Excess animal protein in diet

3. Pollutants that mimic estrogen activity

4. Animal calories displacing plant calories which in turn slow down the progress to menarche

So not the protein itself has an action on the growth itself. It is more indirectly.

As to the link between premature precocious puberty and growth you can perform an easy Pubmed search using appropriate keywords and find out how obvious is this connection (like „premature puberty statural growth pubmed”).

Here some other studies linking diet to premature puberty:

• G. Cheng, A. E. Buyken, L. Shi, N. Karaolis-Danckert, A. Kroke, S. A. Wudy, G. H. Degen, T. Remer. Beyond overweight: Nutrition as an important lifestyle factor influencing timing of puberty. Nutr. Rev. 2012 70(3):133 - 152
• I. S. Rogers, K. Northstone, D. B. Dunger, A. R. Cooper, A. R. Ness, P. M. Emmett. Diet throughout childhood and age at menarche in a contemporary cohort of British girls. Public Health Nutr 2010 13(12):2052 - 2063
• M. Heys, C. Jiang, K. K. Cheng, W. Zhang, T. H. Lam, G. M. Leung, C. M. Schooling. Does childhood meat eating contribute to sex differences in risk factors for ischaemic heart disease in a developing population? J Epidemiol Community Health 2011 65(6):522 - 528
• A. Thankamony, K. K. Ong, M. L. Ahmed, A. R. Ness, J. M. P. Holly, D. B. Dunger. Higher levels of IGF-I and adrenal androgens at age 8 years are associated with earlier age at menarche in girls. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 2012 97(5):E786 - 90
• E. D. Hond, W. Dhooge, L. Bruckers, G. Schoeters, V. Nelen, E. van de Mieroop, G. Koppen, M. Bilau, C. Schroijen, H. Keune, W. Baeyens, N. van Larebeke. Internal exposure to pollutants and sexual maturation in Flemish adolescents. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2011 21(3):224 - 233
• A. Chen, E. Chung, E. A. DeFranco, S. M. Pinney, K. N. Dietrich. Serum PBDEs and age at menarche in adolescent girls: Analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2004. Environ. Res. 2011 111(6):831 - 837

high protein can affect intestinal villi and nutrient absorption.

also, intake of high protein beyond the optimum level will produce more NH4+ and keto-acids. these keto-acids as energy can be utilized by the bodies. therefore, feed intake will be decreased. finally, body weight decrease

Studies in both rats and poultry clearly show weight gain is maximal just below "the protein/amino acid requirement" which is slightly less than the protein required to maximize nitrogen retention. The difference is the heavier animals have more fat with the assumption that near the requirement the animals overconsume energy to maximize their protein intake, so they are heavier and have a higher percentage of fat. Slightly above the requirement this also appears to happen with the animals underconsuming energy (but consuming sufficient protein) so that while N retention plateaus weight falls off slightly because the animals fed higher protein diets contain less body fat.

Inclusion of dietary protein beyond requirement causes growth reduction, which is due to an increase in the requirement of energy to excrete excess nitrogenous end products results from amino acid catabolism and less dietary energy is available for growth. The diet rich in protein content having low amount of non-protein energy source leads to more protein catabolism for energy production which diminish its possibilities for muscles protein synthesis or growth (Fernandes 2000; Bicudo 2010).

Dear fellows, did you somehow forget to insert scientific references in your answers, or I'm totally wrong when considering we reside here in a research environment?