Collaborative ECHO research led by Izzuddin M. Aris, PhD of Harvard University found that children who grew more quickly than their peers in the first five years of life were more likely to start puberty earlier. The study examined the importance of early life factors in puberty development and found that male children who gained weight or grew faster than their peers in the first five years of life were associated with entering puberty at a younger age. The researchers found similar results in female children but only among those with faster weight gains during early childhood (two to five years of age). The article, titled “Analysis of early life growth and age at pubertal onset in US children,” is published in JAMA Network Open.
To obtain these findings, the researchers gathered height and weight data from nearly 7,500 children in 36 ECHO cohorts and examined the following markers of puberty:
- Age at which the child reached maximum growth due to puberty
- Age at first period (in female children only)
- Pubertal development score
- Onset of pubic hair development
The team studied how weight gain, height, and body mass index at ages 0–0.5, 0.5–2, and 2–5 years were related to puberty later in childhood.
“Puberty is a key stage during child development,” explained Dr. Aris. “Having a better understanding of the early life factors related to puberty is important to develop intervention strategies to prevent earlier pubertal onset.” Previous studies in the US have linked earlier puberty onset to diseases later in life, such as type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Aris says follow-up studies will aim to identify puberty’s role in explaining the relationship between early life factors and longer-term chronic diseases.