Overweight and Obesity in Children as Predictors of Early Puberty: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Background. Obesity and overweight among children remains to be an actual problem. To date, the relationship between them and puberty has not been determined. Objective — to estimate the overweight and obesity impact on puberty in boys and girls. Methods. The search for relevant sources was carried out in the Medline/PubMed, Researchgate, Elibrary, www.clinicaltrials.gov, www.clinicaltrialresults.org databases for the period from 2000 to 2023. Nine studies with a total of 24, 542 participants aged 0 to 18 years were selected for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Results. A significant relationship was established between precocious puberty in overweight/obese girls OR 2.23 (CI 1.63–3.05; p 0.00001) and a tendency to accelerated puberty in boys OR 1.43 (CI 0.92–2.23; p = 0.11). Conclusion. Overweight and obesity in children are determinants of faster rates of puberty, in particular among girls.