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Causal relationship between sexual maturation and obesity? A review and meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Li Ji,
Chen Xiaoli,
Wang Youfa
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.551.24
Subject(s) - overweight , obesity , medicine , odds ratio , meta analysis , confidence interval , cohort , cohort study , cross sectional study , demography , pathology , sociology
Accumulating studies show an association between sexual maturation and obesity among adolescent girls and young female adults. However, the results are mixed and are very limited in males. The causality between the two remains controversial even in females. We studied the relation between early sexual maturation (SM) and overweight/obesity among adolescents and adults based on studies published during Jan 1970‐Aug 2008. Our systematic search of Pubmed identified 20 cohort‐ and 22 cross‐sectional studies that met our inclusion criteria for review; and 3 cohort‐ and 3 cross‐sectional studies for meta‐analysis among 423 retrieved articles. Related data were extracted using standardized protocol. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of overweight/obesity were calculated for early SM compared with normal SM using meta‐analysis fixed and/or random effects models. In females, both the cohort‐ (OR=1.80 (1.45‐2.24)) and cross‐sectional studies (OR=1.99 (1.45‐2.73)) revealed a consistent positive association; the association for obesity was stronger than for combined overweight and obesity, OR=2.19 (1.45‐3.29) vs 1.86 (1.56‐2.22). However, no association was detected in males (OR=1.02 (0.52‐2.00)). In conclusion, early SM increases the risk for subsequent obesity in females, but no consistent association between the two exists in males.