Conclusion
Among females, earlier puberty timing is likely to be more of a result of adiposity gain in childhood than a cause of adiposity gain in adulthood. In males, differences in fat mass after puberty are driven partially by tracking of adiposity from early childhood but also by greater gains in post-pubertal adiposity in males earlier to puberty. Interventions aimed at reducing levels of childhood adiposity may help to prevent earlier puberty, adult adiposity and their adverse health outcomes in both females and males. In contrast, interventions aimed at prevention of early puberty without prevention of childhood adiposity would have little downstream benefits for prevention of adult adiposity and cardiovascular risk.
Acknowledgements
We are extremely grateful to all the families who took part in this study, the midwives for their help in recruiting them, and the whole ALSPAC team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists and nurses. This research was specifically funded UK Medical Research Council Population Health Scientist fellowship (MR/M014509/1) granted to L.M.O.K
Funding
The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome (Grant ref: 102215/2/13/2) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. L.M.O.K. is supported by a UK Medical Research Council Population Health Scientist fellowship (MR/M014509/1) and a Health Research Board (HRB) of Ireland Emerging Investigator Award (EIA-FA-2019-007 SCaRLeT). J.A.B. is supported by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research, University of Bristol and the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (204813/Z/16/Z). L.D.H. and A.F. are supported by Career Development Awards from the UK Medical Research Council (grants MR/M020894/1 and MR/M009351/1, respectively). All authors work in a unit that receives funds from the UK Medical Research Council (grant MC_UU_00011/3, MC_UU_00011/6). No competing interests to declare.
Hum Reprod. 2020;35(12):2784-2792. © 2020 Oxford University Press