title: Early BMI Gain and Later Height Growth Predicts Higher DHEAS Concentrations in 7-Year-Old Chilean Children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Accelerated weight and height gain in infancy have been associated with premature adrenarche. However, the exact tempo of these events remains undefined. Thus, our goal was to assess the relationship between early BMI and height growth in different periods before 7 years of age and plasma DHEAS levels at 7 years of age.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a longitudinal follow-up of participants of the Growth and Obesity Chilean Cohort Study (GOCS) that represents Chilean children from low- to middle-income families. The subjects were 972 children (48% girls) with birth weights of 2,500-4,500 g for whom serial weight and height measurements from birth until 7 years were available. At 7 years of age, we also measured DHEAS, IGF-I, leptin, insulin, and other metabolic markers in serum. The main outcome of interest was plasma DHEAS concentrations at 7 years of age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 7 years of age, children with DHEAS >75th percentile of the sample were taller and fatter and presented higher HOMA-IR and IGF-I than their counterparts (p < 0.05). Children with higher DHEAS were heavier at 4 years of age and beyond compared to their counterparts (higher BMI [BMI SDS at 4 years: 1.16, 95% CI 1.02-1.29 vs. 0.83, 95% CI 0.76-0.91, p < 0.001]) and taller at 7 years of age (height SDS at 7 years: 0.19, 95% CI -0.08 to 0.31 vs. -0.001, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.06, p < 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed weight and BMI from 2 to 4 years, and height gains from 4 to 7 years were associated with higher DHEAS levels at 7 years.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Maternal and Child Research (IDIMI), University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mericq
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uauy
authors.forename: Camila
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Corvalán
mesh_terms: D050499:Adrenarche / Q000097:blood*; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D020738:Leptin; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I