Abstract
Dietary fat and fat quality have been inconsistently associated with puberty timing. The aim of this study was to investigate the prospective associations of dietary fat, saturated fatty acid (SFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) with puberty timing. Using longitudinal data from China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) and Southwest China Childhood Nutrition and Growth (SCCNG) Study, we analyzed dietary data, anthropometric measurements, and potential confounders. Dietary intakes were assessed by 3-day 24-h recalls. Age at Tanner stage 2 for breast/genital development (B2/G2) and age at menarche/voice break (M/VB) were used as puberty development markers. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate the relevance of dietary intake of total fat, SFA, PUFA, and MUFA on puberty timing. Among 3425 girls and 2495 boys, children with higher intakes of total fat and PUFA were more likely to reach their B2/G2 or M/VB at an earlier age. Associations were not attenuated on additional adjustment for childhood dietary protein intake. However, higher intakes of SFA or MUFA were not independently associated with puberty development. A higher intake of dietary fat and PUFA in prepuberty was associated with earlier puberty timing, which was independent of dietary protein intake.
Highlights
Puberty represents the transition stage from childhood to adulthood [1]
From a public health standpoint, it is more meaningful to investigate the possible effect of fat quality, i.e., saturated fatty acid (SFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), other than total fat [7], but the relationship between different types of fatty acids and puberty timing varies: some studies found that higher consumption of PUFA was associated with early puberty onset [8,17], while others reported a lack of an association [16,18]; no association between SFA intake with puberty timing was observed [8,16,18]; inverse [15], positive [17] or null association [16] were reported between MUFA intake and age at puberty onset
We observed that higher childhood habitual total fat and PUFA intakes were associated with subsequent earlier timing of puberty, which was independent of pre-puberty dietary protein intake
Summary
Puberty represents the transition stage from childhood to adulthood [1]. There has been a global secular trend towards earlier puberty timing in the past decades [2,3,4]. From a public health standpoint, it is more meaningful to investigate the possible effect of fat quality, i.e., saturated fatty acid (SFA), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), other than total fat [7], but the relationship between different types of fatty acids and puberty timing varies: some studies found that higher consumption of PUFA was associated with early puberty onset [8,17], while others reported a lack of an association [16,18]; no association between SFA intake with puberty timing was observed [8,16,18]; inverse [15], positive [17] or null association [16] were reported between MUFA intake and age at puberty onset Most of these studies were limited mainly to girls and examined solely a single self-report puberty marker [8,13,14,15,16,17,18], usually age at menarche, which highlights the need to consider other puberty timing traits reflecting different sex hormone pathways [19]. Given the secular trend of earlier puberty has been observed in both Chinese boys and girls [20,21], investigation on the determinants of puberty timing in this population is warranted
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