[Effect of bodyweight on the onset of puberty of female children and adolescents].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the possible effects and roles of bodyweight on the puberty onset in adolescent girls.


METHODS
Totally 288 Chinese female children and adolescent girls aged 5 to 16 were followed up yearly for four consecutive years. The height, bodyweight, fat percentage, sexual characteristics, and the serum levels of leptin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were studied to analyze the influential factors of puberty onset and age of menarche.


RESULTS
The serum level of leptin elevated significantly from age 13 [(9.23 +/- 1.25) microg/L] and reached peak at age 16 [(13.19 +/- 1.45) microg/L]. IGF-1 significantly correlated with the timing of puberty onset (r = 0.292, P = 0.016). BMI and fat percentage had no significant effects on the onset of puberty, but were negatively correlated with the age of menarche (r = -0.323, P = 0.037, r = -0.298, P = 0.038 respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Bodyweight may have effect on puberty onset in female adolescents.
Department of Endocrinology, PUMC Hospital, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing 100730, China.
Hui-juan
HJ
Zhu
Hui
H
Pan
Dian-xi
DX
Zhang
Qin-yong
QY
Wu
Kui
K
Zhang
Ming
M
Li
Feng-ying
FY
Gong
Xue-yan
XY
Wu
Jie-ying
JY
Deng
Yi-fan
YF
Shi
D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult