Girls with early puberty attain a near-final height similar to their target height

Abstract

Background: The median age at thelarche in Thai girls has decreased from 10.3 to 9.4 years over the last 20 years. An age at thelarche of 7.0-9.0 years, which is earlier than in the general population, is considered as early puberty.

Objective: To study the pattern of pubertal development in Thai girls with early puberty.

Study design: A total of 104 girls with breast development at 7.0-9.0 years who attended Songklanagarind Hospital between 2003 and 2005 were followed up until they attained their near-final height (NFH).

Results: The mean age at initial evaluation was 8.5 +/- 1.0 years. The average age at menarche and on attaining NFH was 10.2 +/- 0.9 and 12.6 +/- 0.4 years, respectively. The average NFH was 154.0 +/- 4.9 cm, which was similar to the target height of 153.1 +/- 4.8 cm. Comparison of girls who were normal weight and obese (weight-for-height >120%) revealed that the latter had an earlier age at menarche (9.8 +/- 0.8 vs. 10.5 +/- 0.8 years, p<0.01) and reached their NFH at a younger age (12.2 +/- 0.4 vs. 12.9 +/- 0.4 years, p=0.02). However, normal-weight and obese girls reached approximately the same NFH (155.8 +/- 4.8 vs. 153.1 +/- 4.0 cm, p=0.058).

Conclusion: Girls with early puberty attained NFH similar to their genetic potential. Obese girls attained NFH at an earlier age and had the same NFH as normal-weight girls.