IMPE Abstracts

Objective: to assess the association of different markers of adiposity during childhood with different pubertal milestones (age at: thelarche, pubarche, menarche, and peak height velocity (PHV)).

Design: longitudinal follow-up of 539 female participants of the Chilean Growth and Obesity Cohort Study.

Setting: A population-based study from the low-middle socioeconomic status of the Southeast area of Santiago

Participants: Girls were recruited from childcare centers at a mean age of 3.5 years, but retrospective data was collected since birth. Annual visits were performed by trained dietitians at a clinical setting; since age 6.5 years, the frequency of visits was increased to every six months to assess sexual maturation onset and progression. Recruitment was restricted to singletons born between 2002-2003 within the normal birthweight range (2500-4500 grams) and excluded children with physical, medical, mental, or endocrine diseases that may alter growth and puberty.

Exposure(s): A trained dietitian measured weight, height, waist circumference and skinfolds to estimate BMI CDC percentiles, central obesity, fat mass (%FM) and fat mass index (FMI = fat mass/height2). Both %FM and FMI were tertiles according to the sample distribution. Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s): The pubertal milestones analyzed were age at: thelarche, pubarche, menarche and PHV. Results: We detected thelarche in 517, pubarche in 524, menarche in 538, and age at PHV in 539 girls. At thelarche, 12.5% were obese, 2% had central obesity, and mean %FM was 31.8%. The time between thelarche-to menarche was shorter at older age of thelarche. The median age of pubarche, menarche, and PHV were associated with markers of adiposity at different time points during childhood; data on thelarche was less consistent. Moreover, the adiposity clusters adjusted models showed that children with trajectories of high adiposity during childhood were related with earlier thelarche, pubarche, menarche and age at PHV. Conclusions and Relevance: Higher %FM and FMI during childhood was associated with early age at thelarche, pubarche, menarche, and PHV. The associations with BMI was less consistent.