Associations Between Maternal Pregravid Obesity and Gestational Diabetes and the Timing of Pubarche in Daughters.
We investigated whether in utero exposure to maternal pregravid obesity and/or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) was associated with early puberty in girls. We used data from a longitudinal study of 421 mother-daughter pairs enrolled in an integrated health services organization, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (2005-2012). Girls aged 6-8 years were followed annually through ages 12-14 years. Onset of puberty was assessed using study clinic-based Tanner staging. We examined associations of self-reported pregravid obesity and maternal GDM with timing of the daughter's transition to pubertal maturation stage 2 or above for development of breasts and pubic hair, using accelerated failure time regression models with interval censoring to estimate time ratios and hazard ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Maternal obesity (pregravid body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height (m)(2)) ≥30) was associated with a daughter's earlier transition to breast and pubic hair stage 2+ in comparison with girls whose mothers had pregravid BMI <25. These associations were attenuated and not statistically significant after adjustment for covariates. Girls whose mothers had both pregravid BMI ≥25 and GDM were at higher risk of an earlier transition to pubic hair stage 2+ than those whose mothers had neither condition (adjusted time ratio = 0.89, 95% confidence interval: 0.83, 0.96; hazard ratio = 2.97, 95% confidence interval: 1.52, 5.83). These findings suggest that exposure to maternal obesity and hyperglycemia places girls at higher risk of earlier pubarche.
Ai
A
Kubo
Assiamira
A
Ferrara
Cecile A
CA
Laurent
Gayle C
GC
Windham
Louise C
LC
Greenspan
Julianna
J
Deardorff
Robert A
RA
Hiatt
Charles P
CP
Quesenberry
Lawrence H
LH
Kushi
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006943:Hyperglycemia; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009765:Obesity; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011627:Puberty
gestational diabetes; intergenerational disease transmission; life-course epidemiology; obesity; prenatal exposure delayed effects; pubarche; puberty; thelarche