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Precocious pubertal events in Chilean children: ethnic disparities

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Abstract

Purpose

Puberty onset exhibits remarkable inter-individual and ethnic differences. 5% of Chileans are indigenous but puberty ethnic disparities have not been studied. We aim for evaluating precocious puberty prevalence in children with Mapuche ancestry vs non-indigenous Chilean children (according to their surnames).

Methods

Longitudinal cohort study: 1003 children (50.2% girls) participating in the Growth and Obesity Chilean Cohort Study (GOCS) were studied. Annual anthropometry was measured since 4–7 years. Subsequently, Tanner staging and anthropometry were measured every 6 months. In girls, Tanner stage was assessed by breast palpation and in boys by testicular volume measurements. The cohort was stratified in three groups depending on Mapuche surname numbers as follows: (A) no indigenous surnames (n = 811), (B) one to two indigenous surnames (n = 147), and (C) three or more indigenous surnames (n = 45). We evaluated the prevalence of precocious thelarche, pubarche, menarche and gonadarche (testicular volume ≥ 4 ml—G2), using a cutoff age of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys while controlling for socioeconomic status, body mass index, waist circumference, IGF-1 and DHEAS at 7 years.

Results

In girls, no significant differences were observed. On the contrary, in boys, precocious gonadarche prevalence was higher in group C (29.2%) vs group A (6.0%) and vs group B (10.5%) (p =0.001, p = 0.004, respectively). Increased precocious gonadarche and pubarche risks in group C were observed even after adjustment [OR 7.31; 95% IC (2.32–23.51); p = 0.001] and [OR 6.17, 95% CI (1.62–23.49); p = 0.008], respectively.

Conclusion

Indigenous origin in Chile is an independent risk factor for precocious gonadarche and pubarche in boys but not in girls.

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Acknowledgements

FONDECYT Grants 1140447, 1120326 and 11170670 supported this work. Sponsors were not involved in study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data; manuscript writing or submission decision. We thank GOCS families and children for their participation. Everyone who contributed significantly to the work has been listed.

Funding

FONDECYT Grants 1140447, 1120326 and 11170670 supported this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Maternal and Child Research (IDIMI), Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santa Rosa 1234, 2a Piso, PO Box 226-3, Santiago, Chile

    M. Fernández & V. Mericq

  2. Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    A. Pereira & C. Corvalán

Authors
  1. M. Fernández
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  2. A. Pereira
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  3. C. Corvalán
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  4. V. Mericq
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Contributions

MF wrote the original protocol, performed data analysis, production of tables and figures and wrote the manuscript. Originally, AP participated in the GOCS cohort recruitment and data analysis. For the present study, she contributed in data analysis and criticism of several drafts and edited the final manuscript. CC participated in original GOCS cohort recruitment and data analysis, in the present study contributed to discussion, and extensively reviewed and edited the manuscript. VM reviewed and edited the original protocol, participated in data analysis, contributed to discussion, and reviewed and edited the manuscript. This research was presented at the XXVI Annual Meeting of the Latin American Society for Pediatric Endocrinology. SLEP 2016. Nov 8-11 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. Mericq.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

INTAs Ethic Board Committee has approved GOCS according to USA ORP/NIH standards.

Informed consent

All parents or tutors signed an informed consent form and all children assented to participate when they turned 7 years.

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Fernández, M., Pereira, A., Corvalán, C. et al. Precocious pubertal events in Chilean children: ethnic disparities. J Endocrinol Invest 42, 385–395 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-018-0927-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-018-0927-8

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