Association of prepubertal body composition in healthy girls and boys with the timing of early and late pubertal markers1-3 (original) (raw)
Related papers
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2008
Background: It is controversial whether prepubertal body composition is implicated in the timing of puberty onset. Objective: The objective was to investigate whether body composition in the 2 y preceding the start of the pubertal growth spurt-a marker of puberty onset-is associated with the attainment of early and late pubertal markers in healthy German boys and girls. Design: Multivariate-adjusted regression analyses were performed in 215 participants of the DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) Study for whom body mass index (BMI) and its components fat mass/height 2 (FM/m 2 ) and fatfree mass/height 2 (FFM/m 2 ) 1 and 2 y before the onset of the pubertal growth spurt (age at takeoff; ATO) and information on early life exposures were available. In addition, age at peak height velocity (APHV) and menarche were examined. Results: Higher BMIs and FM/m 2 z scores 1 and 2 y before ATO showed modest associations with chronological age at ATO among girls only (girls: P for ¼ trend 0.05-0.1, adjusted for early life factors; boys: P ¼ 0.2-0.6). FFM/m 2 z scores were not related to age at ATO (P for trend ¼ 0.5-0.8). Conversely, prepubertal BMI and FM/m 2 more clearly predicted APHV and puberty duration (APHV minus ATO) in both sexes and age at menarche in girls (girls: adjusted P for trend ,0.0001-0.03; boys: P ¼ 0.01-0.046). Conclusion: This longitudinal study suggests that prepubertal body composition in healthy boys and girls may not be critical for the initiation of the pubertal growth spurt but instead affects the progression of pubertal development, which results in earlier attainment of later pubertal stages.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009
Background: Early age at puberty onset may predispose an individual to many currently prevalent diseases, including cancer and adiposity. Objective: The objective was to investigate whether early life exposures influence the timing of puberty, as defined by both early and late markers, in healthy German girls and boys. Design: Term participants (n = 215; 49.8% female) of the DONALD (DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) Study, with sufficient repeated anthropometric measurements between 6 and 13 y to allow estimation of age at take-off of the pubertal growth spurt (ATO) and information on a variety of early life exposures, including birth weight, breastfeeding status, velocity of weight gain, and parental characteristics, were studied. Age at peak height velocity (APHV) and menarche were also considered. Results: Children who weighed between 2500 and ,3000 g at birth were '7 mo younger at ATO than were the other children (b 6 SE: 20.56 6 0.20 y; P = 0.006). Children who had gained weight rapidly between birth and 24 mo (increase in weight SD score .0.67) experienced ATO 4 mo earlier than those who had gained weight normally (20.34 6 0.15 y; P = 0.02). Rapid weight gain was also associated with an earlier APHV (P = 0.0006) and, in girls, with an earlier menarche (P = 0.002). Adjustment for body mass index SD score or body fat percentage 1, 2, or 3 y before ATO did not account for these effects. Conclusion: In both boys and girls, intrauterine and early postnatal growth factors appear to influence both early and later markers of puberty onset independently of prepubertal body composition.
Early growth predicts timing of puberty in boys: Results of a 14-year nutrition and growth study
The Journal of Pediatrics, 1986
Diet and growth were studied prospectively In 78 boys ages 6 months to 14 years. All boys were well nourished and not grossly obese. Pubertal development was evaluated at age 14 years, and the results correlated with diet and early growth. No nutrients were significantly correlated with the stage of pubertal development. Boys wlth more advanced pubic hair development (Tanner >3) and longer penile length (>__10 cm) had been significantly heavier at ages 6 months, 2 years, and 4 years (all P <0.025). Muscle mass, as estimated by the cross-sectional muscle area of the upper arm, had been signlficantly greater in the early maturers at the same ages (P <0.025 in seven of nlne comparisons). Although the more sexually mature boys also had been taller and had had larger sklnfolds at virtually all measurements from age 6 months to 4 years, the differences were less pronounced. In this adequately nourished male population, body size In the first years of life was slgnlficantly correlated with the timing of puberty. (J PEDIATR 1986;109:543-547)
Predicting pubertal development by infantile and childhood height, BMI and adiposity rebound
Pediatric research, 2015
Despite substantial heritability in pubertal development, children differ in maturational tempo. (a) Puberty and its duration are influenced by early changes in height and adiposity. (b) Adiposity rebound (AR) is a marker for pubertal tempo. We utilized published prospective data from 659 girls and 706 boys of the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. We investigated the age of pubarche-thelarche- gonadarche -menarche as a function of early height, BMI and AR. In girls, height SDS correlated negatively with thelarche and pubarche from age 15 months and with menarche from 54 months. BMI correlated negatively with thelarche from age 36 months and menarche from 54 months. In boys, age at gonadarche correlated negatively with height from age 36 months. An AR was detected in 47% of girls and 55% of boys, who became heavier and had earlier and faster puberty than those with no AR. The onset and tempo of puberty are influenced by a two-hit program. The first is exerted during th...
European Journal of Endocrinology, 2012
Background: Pubertal onset is usually defined by breast development in girls and testicular growth in boys. Pubarche is defined as the attainment of pubic hair and is considered as a sign of pubertal transition. Pubarche is preceded by a gradual increase in production of adrenal androgens, DHEA and D4-androstenedione (Adione), a process termed adrenarche. Objective: To study the natural course of pubertal transition and the associations with adrenarche, body fat, and linear growth. Design and methods: A longitudinal study of 179 healthy children (89 girls) with higher socioeconomic background examined every 6 months for 5 years. Pubic hair stage, breast stage, genital stage, testicular volume (TV), height, weight, and four skinfolds were measured. .4) in boys. Only 6.8% (4/59) of the girls and 24.6% (15/61) of the boys developed pubic hair as the first isolated sign of puberty. Serum DHEAS and Adione increased with age, although the increase in Adione was most pronounced in girls. No associations between early age at thelarche/testicular growth and increased body fat (BMI and sum of four skinfolds) were observed. Conclusion: Danish children rarely experience pubarche as the first sign of puberty. No associations between age at pubertal onset and body composition were found. Circulating levels of Adione, but not DHEAS, increased with the onset of puberty, although with large interindividual variability.
Forty Years Trends in Timing of Pubertal Growth Spurt in 157,000 Danish School Children
PLoS ONE, 2008
Background: Entering puberty is an important milestone in reproductive life and secular changes in the timing of puberty may be an important indicator of the general reproductive health in a population. Too early puberty is associated with several psychosocial and health problems. The aim of our study was to determine if the age at onset of pubertal growth spurt (OGS) and at peak height velocity (PHV) during puberty show secular trends during four decades in a large cohort of school children.
Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2022
BackgroundThere is an ongoing controversial issue regarding whether onset of puberty is related to childhood BMI.ObjectivesThis study aims at investigating the causal association and its shape between prepuberty BMI and early puberty onset.MethodsBreast development and testicular volume were assessed annually from a population-based prospective cohort of 997 children for consecutive years by professional endocrinologists. Seventeen puberty- and BMI-related SNPs were selected to calculate the polygenic risk score. The two-stage least square method was used to assess and confirm causal effects. A dose–response association between prepuberty BMI and early puberty onset was conducted by using restricted cubic spline Cox regression.ResultsAfter adjusting for covariates, prepuberty BMI was positively associated with early thelarche among girls (coefficients = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.29). A non-linear model suggested an inverted U-shaped relationship between prepuberty BMI and risk for early...
The relationship between infancy growth rate and the onset of puberty in both genders
Pediatric Research
BACKGROUND: In this study, we examined the hypothesis that weight gain and linear growth during the first years of life influence the onset of puberty both in girls and in boys. METHODS: A cohort of 157 healthy children, aged 6-9 years, was evaluated and their growth patterns were analyzed retrospectively. Repeated measures mixed model was used to examine the longitudinal anthropometric data. RESULTS: Girls with pubertal signs were heavier than their peers starting at 9 months of age (P = 0.02), and the difference became more evident over time (Po0.001). Accelerated weight gain between 6 and 15 months of age was found to increase the odds of having a pubertal sign at the study visit (odds ratio (OR) = 34.5) after adjusting for birth weight, gestational age and current age, height, weight, and BMI (P = 0.004). Anthropometric indices of boys with or without pubertal signs were not significantly different at the study visit, but boys with accelerated height gain between 9 and 15 months of age were more likely to have pubertal signs (OR = 15.8) after adjusting for birth weight, gestational age and current age, height, weight, and BMI (P = 0.016). CONCLUSION: Early growth acceleration might be important for the timing of puberty in both genders.
Research Square (Research Square), 2021
Objective over the last few decades there has been a progressive decline in the average age of onset of pubertal development stages in both sexes. The increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity seems to play an important role in this phenomenon. Design we undertook a retrospective, longitudinal evaluation of the average age of thelarche and menarche to evaluate the relationship between BMI and weight change during the rst years of life and the timing and tempo of puberty. Methods we evaluated data for 577 Italian girls born between 1995 and 2003. We collected the main auxological and clinical parameters, including age at B2 and at menarche, BMI SDS at B2 and menarche, gestational age and birth weight and Z-score change from birth weight (BW) to BMI at B2 and menarche. Results the mean age of B2 was 10.06 ± 1.03 years and the mean age of menarche was 12.08 ± 1.02 years. Age at B2 and menarche were inversely correlated with BMI SDS (p < 0.0001). Both age at menarche and at thelarche have an inverse relationship with the Z-score change from birth weight and BMI at menarche and thelarche respectively (p < 0.0001). Conclusions our data con rm a signi cant relationship between BMI and age of B2 and menarche. We observed a clear relationship among weight change during the rst years of life, age at thelarche and menarche and the duration of puberty, demonstrating the importance of weight and weight gain in determining the timing and tempo of pubertal changes and growth.
Expected Changes in Clinical Measures of Adiposity During Puberty
Journal of Adolescent Health, 2010
Background: Clinicians use several measures to estimate adiposity. Body mass index (BMI), although not a measure of adiposity, is commonly used to define weight status. Percent body fat (%BF) measures total body fatness, which is composed of central and peripheral fat, estimated by waist circumference (WC) and skinfold thickness, respectively. Abnormal increases in fat during puberty may reflect an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is important to establish the normal patterns of change in clinically relevant measures of adiposity. Purpose: To describe the normal patterns of change in clinical measures of adiposity during puberty. Design/Methods: Multilevel modeling and linear regression analyses of 642 children in Project HeartBeat!, aged 8-18 years (non-black and black), who had assessments of BMI, %BF, WC, sums of 2-and 6-skinfolds, and pubertal stage (PS) triennially between 1991 and 1995. Results: In males, the normal pattern from PS1 to PS5 is for %BF to decrease, skinfold thickness to remain stable, and WC to increase. However, after adjusting for height, WC does not change. In females, %BF remains stable from PS1 to PS5, whereas skinfold thickness increases. As in males waist-height ratio does not change, indicating that central adiposity does not normally increase during puberty. Although BMI increases in both genders and races from PS1 to PS5, mean values at PS5 were well below 25 kg/m 2 . Conclusions: During puberty, increase in %BF is abnormal in females and even more so in males. Likewise, increase in waist-height ratio is also abnormal and may suggest an increased risk for adiposity-associated morbidity. Ó