Abstract
Given the global secular declining trends of the age at puberty and its relevant mechanisms,
as illustrated in the first part of this series, the present part will discuss the
public health implications of early puberty and potential clinical and public health
measures. Although the major effect of earlier maturation impacts adolescents’ mental
health and likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors, there are also effects in adulthood
on cardiometabolic health, especially type 2 diabetes, and an increased risk of certain
cancers, especially hormone-related cancers such as breast cancer. The paper ends
with recommendations for clinical management, especially for girls who should receive
further evaluation, as well as recommendations for the patient and her family and
public health considerations.
Key Words
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent GynecologyAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Pubertal timing and adult obesity and cardiometabolic risk in women and men: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Int J Obes (Lond). 2013; 37: 1036-1043
- Association of age at menarche with obesity and hypertension among southwestern Chinese women: a new finding.Menopause. 2018; 25: 546-553
- Puberty timing associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and also diverse health outcomes in men and women: the UK Biobank study.Sci Rep. 2015; 5: 11208
- Impact of the age at menarche on body composition in adulthood: results from two birth cohort studies.BMC Public Health. 2016; 16: 1007
- Age at menarche and adult body mass index: a Mendelian randomization study.Int J Obes (Lond). 2018; 42: 1574-1581
- Influence of puberty timing on adiposity and cardiometabolic traits: a Mendelian randomisation study.PLoS Med. 2018; 15e1002641
- Early age at menarche is associated with insulin resistance: a systemic review and meta-analysis.Postg Med. 2019; 131: 144-150
- Early menarche and blood pressure in adulthood: systematic review and meta-analysis.J Public Health (Oxf). 2018; 40: 476-484
- Timing of pubertal development and midlife blood pressure in men and women: a Mendelian randomization study.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021; 107: e386-e393
- Association of puberty timing with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS Med. 2020; 17e1003017
- Association between age at menarche and cardiovascular disease: a systematic review on risk and potential mechanisms.Maturitas. 2017; 104: 96-116
- Age at menarche and risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.Menopause. 2018; 26: 670-676
- Identifying potential causal effects of age at menarche: a Mendelian randomization phenome-wide association study.BMC Med. 2020; 18: 71
- Age at menarche and cancer risk at adulthood.Ann Hum Biol. 2018; 45: 369-372
- Genomic analyses identify hundreds of variants associated with age at menarche and support a role for puberty timing in cancer risk.Nat Genet. 2017; 49: 834-841
- Review of Mendelian randomization studies on ovarian cancer.Front Oncol. 2021; 11681396
- Differential effects of reproductive factors on the risk of pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer. Results from a large cohort of French women.Br J Cancer. 2002; 86: 723-727
- Pubertal development in girls by breast cancer family history: the LEGACY girls cohort.Breast Cancer Res. 2017; 19: 69
- Growth patterns and the risk of breast cancer in women.N Engl J Med. 2004; 351: 1619-1626
- Relationship between age maximum height is attained, age at menarche, and age at first full-term birth and breast cancer risk.Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007; 16: 2144-2149
- Pubertal growth, IGF-1, and windows of susceptibility: puberty and future breast cancer risk.J Adolesc Health. 2021; 68: 517-522
- Pubertal timing and substance use: the effects of gender, parental monitoring and deviant peers.J Adolesc Health. 2008; 42: 555-563
- Outcomes of early pubertal timing in young women: a prospective population-based study.Am J Psychiatry. 2010; 167: 1218-1225
- Early puberty, negative peer influence, and problem behaviors in adolescent girls.Pediatrics. 2014; 133: 7-14
- Age at menarche, depression, and antisocial behavior in adulthood.Pediatrics. 2018; : 141
- In search of explanations for early pubertal timing effects on developmental psychopathology.Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2009; 18: 327-331
- Self-esteem in adolescent females.J Adolesc Health. 2006; 39: 501-507
- The influence of puberty on subcortical brain development.Neuroimage. 2014; 88: 242-251
- Understanding the link between pubertal timing in girls and the development of depressive symptoms: the role of sexual harassment.J Youth Adolesc. 2016; 45: 316-327
- Girls' pubertal timing and tempo and mental health: a longitudinal examination in an ethnically diverse sample.J Adolesc Health. 2021; 68: 1197-1203
- Cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial functioning of girls treated with pharmacological puberty blockage for idiopathic central precocious puberty.Front Psychol. 2016; 7: 1053
- Diagnostic work-up of 449 consecutive girls who were referred to be evaluated for precocious puberty.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011; 96: 1393-1401
- Insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles in girls with central precocious puberty before and during gonadal suppression.J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010; 95: 3736-3744
- Prepubertal internalizing symptoms and timing of puberty onset in girls.Am J Epidemiol. 2021; 190: 431-438
- Parental monitoring predicts depressive symptom and suicidal ideation outcomes in adolescents being treated for co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders.J Affect Disord. 2021; 284: 190-198
- Trends towards earlier puberty timing in girls and its likely mechanisms.J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2022; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2022.04.009
- Dietary fat and cardiometabolic health: evidence, controversies, and consensus for guidance.BMJ. 2018; 361: k2139
- Ratio of n-3/n-6 PUFAs and risk of breast cancer: a meta-analysis of 274135 adult females from 11 independent prospective studies.BMC Cancer. 2014; 14: 105
- Intake of fish and marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of breast cancer: meta-analysis of data from 21 independent prospective cohort studies.BMJ. 2013; 346: f3706
Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 26, 2022
Accepted:
May 19,
2022
Received in revised form:
May 11,
2022
Received:
February 3,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
