Evaluation and comparison of nine growth and development-based measures of pubertal timing

Ahmed Elhakeem*, Monika Frysz, Ana Goncalves Soares, Joshua A Bell, Tim J Cole, Jon Heron, Laura D Howe, Sylvain Sebert, Kate Tilling, Nicholas J Timpson, Deborah A Lawlor

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pubertal timing is heritable, varies between individuals, and has implications for life-course health. There are many different indicators of pubertal timing, and how they relate to each other is unclear. Our aim was to quantitatively compare nine indicators of pubertal timing.

METHODS: We used data from questionnaires and height, weight, and bone measurements from ages 7-17 y in a population-based cohort of 4267 females and 4251 males to compare nine growth and development-based indicators of pubertal timing. We summarise age of each indicator, their phenotypic and genetic correlations, and how they relate to established genetic risk score (GRS) for puberty timing, and phenotypic childhood body composition measures.

RESULTS: We show that pubic hair in males (mean: 12.6 y) and breasts in females (11.5 y) are early indicators of puberty, and voice breaking (14.2 y) and menarche (12.7 y) are late indicators however, there is substantial variation between individuals in pubertal age. All indicators show evidence of positive phenotypic intercorrelations (e.g., r = 0.49: male genitalia and pubic hair ages), and positive genetic intercorrelations. An age at menarche GRS positively associates with all other pubertal age indicators (e.g., difference in female age at peak height velocity per SD higher GRS: 0.24 y, 95%CI: 0.21 to 0.26), as does an age at voice breaking GRS (e.g., difference in age at male axillary hair: 0.11 y, 0.07 to 0.15). Higher childhood fat mass and lean mass associated with earlier puberty timing.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide insights into the measurements of the timing of pubertal growth and development and illustrate value of various pubertal timing indicators in life-course research.

Original languageEnglish
Article number159
JournalCommunications Medicine
Volume4
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Aug 2024

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© The Author(s) 2024.

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