ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2020
Childhood overweight and obesity and timing of puberty in boys and girls: cohort and sibling-matched analyses.
Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 82 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
82 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 147 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global prevalence and incidence of precocious puberty: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- The relationship between childhood obesity and male puberty development: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Sex differences in response to lifestyle intervention among children and adolescents: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2023Pooled it
- Overweight/Obesity in Childhood and the Risk of Early Puberty: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Pooled it
- Positive effect of combined exercise on adipokines levels and pubertal signs in overweight and obese girls with central precocious puberty.Lipids in health and disease · 2021Trial
- The association between pubertal timing and diurnal cortisol activity in middle adolescence.Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2026Article
- Association between childhood weight status and timing of puberty: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational pediatrics · 2026Article
- Sex-specific associations between pubertal development and MASLD in children: evidence from the PROC study.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Distinguishing central precocious puberty from nonprogressive breast development: adiposity and DXA body composition.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2026Article
- Shaping the Female Microbiome: A Review of Lifestyle Factors Influencing the Vaginal, Gut, Oral, and Skin Microenvironments.Microbial ecology · 2026Review
- The complex interaction between obesity and puberty and its implications for pubertal timing: a review of recent evidence.Endocrine connections · 2026Review
- The Ontogeny of Distinct Reproductive Phenotypes in Girls at Risk for PCOS During the Postmenarchal Transition.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Early Postnatal Growth and Pubertal Timing: An Ultrasound-Based Study of Breast and Testicular Development.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2026Article
- Obesity and cryptorchidism across development: an integrated endocrine and metabolic life course framework.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Unraveling breast cancer risk with a focus on menopausal status: a large case-control study.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2025Article
- Weight Gain in Infancy and Childhood Were Associated With Pubertal Development in Boys and Girls.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Article
- Polygenic prediction of body mass index and obesity through the life course and across ancestries.Nature medicine · 2025Article
- Adolescent health and the intersectionality of ethnicity/race, sex, and sexual orientation: A national probability sample from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study.Developmental psychology · 2025Article
- Bioinformatics analysis explores key pathways and hub genes in central precocious puberty.Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM · 2025Article
- Maternal time interval between menarche and childbirth is associated with daughter's age at menarche.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2025Article
22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly puberty is a risk indicator for adult diseases. Identification of modifiable causes of earlier puberty is, therefore, warranted. We estimate the association between childhood body mass index (BMI) and pubertal timing in a cohort study and in a sibling-matched study to adjust for unobserved time-stable confounders shared within families.
methodsFor the cohort study, 11 046 of 22 439 (49%) invited children, born 2000-203, from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) had information on childhood BMI at 7 years and self-reported, half-yearly puberty information from 11 years on Tanner stages, menarche, voice break, first ejaculation, acne, and axillary hair. For the sibling-matched study, 1700 brothers and sisters were included among 86 820 live-born singletons from the DNBC.
resultsChildhood overweight (85th ≤ BMI < 95th percentile) and obesity (BMI ≥ 95th percentile) were associated with earlier age attaining the pubertal milestones in a dose-dependent manner in boys and girls. When modelling all pubertal milestones simultaneously, the pubertal milestones were attained earlier in: overweight boys: -3.1 [95% confidence interval (CI): -4.5, -1.7] months, overweight girls: -5.5 (95% CI: -7.1, -3.9) months, obese boys: -3.5 (95% CI: -5.1, -2.0) months, obese girls: -5.2 (95% CI: -7.1, -3.4) months compared with normal weight (BMI < 85th percentile) children. In the sibling-matched study, higher BMI was associated with earlier age at attaining most pubertal milestones in girls, but only a tendency toward earlier pubertal timing was observed in boys.
conclusionsChildhood overweight and obesity were associated with earlier pubertal timing even after adjustment for unobserved time-stable confounders shared within families.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.