Abstract
An earlier onset of puberty is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk. We investigated whether this relation was independent of faster childhood growth or current size in an Afro-Caribbean birth cohort (n=259). Anthropometry was measured at birth and then 6-monthly. Tanner staging started at age 8 years. Cardiometabolic risk factors were measured at mean age 11.5 years. In boys, pubarchal stage and testicular size were associated with lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, higher systolic blood pressure, and higher homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance score, but not after adjusting for current body mass index (BMI) or rate of growth (up to age 8 years). In girls, earlier menarche and greater breast development were associated with higher fasting glucose even after adjusting for current BMI or prior growth. Pubarchal stage was associated with systolic blood pressure, even after adjusting for current BMI and prior growth. We concluded that earlier puberty is independently associated with cardiometabolic risk in girls but not in boys.
Author contributions: MSB contributed to the study design, data collection, interpretation of the data, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. MT contributed to the study design, data collection, and writing of the manuscript. CO and RAF contributed to the data analysis and writing of the manuscript. LG contributed to the study design and writing of the manuscript. CTB contributed to data collection and writing of the manuscript. TEF contributed to the study design, data collection, interpretation of the data, and writing of the manuscript.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust, 183 Euston Road, London, England, and funding from the University of the West Indies. We wish to thank the research staff (Karen Aldred, Kenesha Pennicott-Brown, and Rene Walters) for their invaluable role in data collection.
Conflict of interest statement
Authors conflict of interest disclosure: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
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Article note: Some of these data were presented as a poster at the Endocrine Society 95th Annual Scientific Meeting, 16 June 2013, San Francisco, California. Endocr Rev 2013;34(Suppl):MON-605.
©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
