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Age at menarche (AAM) is an effective marker of puberty timing but its onset could be influenced by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors. This study aimed to assess the AAM in a sample of Italian adolescents and to investigate its association with anthropometric variables. Considering the rise in overweight/obesity worldwide, special attention was paid to a possible decrease in AAM as adiposity indices increase. A longitudinal study was carried out on 117 middle school girls in Northern Italy. Data concerning menarche and anthropometric traits (standing and sitting height, weight, waist circumference, and skinfold thicknesses) were directly collected. Lower limb length and indices of adiposity and growth were calculated. The median AAM was 11.66 (95% IC: 11.31–11.68). Age-adjusted ANCOVA between mature and non-mature girls showed significant differences in growth-related traits and WHtR. No preponderance of overweight/obesity among mature participants was found. AAM was not significantly associated with weight or the growth velocity of adiposity indices in a subsample of maturers. Moreover, the median AAM of our sample was similar to that found in women born about 60 years ago in the same region. In conclusion, in addition to a stabilization of AAM since the 1960s, our results suggest that there is no significant correlation between increased adiposity and early AAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiorespiratory endurance (CRE) is an important health marker. The aim of this study was to examine temporal trends of CRE performance for Italian children between 1984 and 2010. Using a repeated cross-sectional study design, 5303 CRE test results were available for 2520 children aged 11–13 years from a single Northern Italian middle-high school between 1984 and 2010. CRE was measured as 1000-m and 12-min run test performance. With adjustments for BMI, temporal trends in means were estimated using linear regression, with trends in distributional characteristics described visually and estimated as the ratio of coefficients of variation (CVs). There was a significant small increase in BMI (effect size (ES) [95%CI]: 0.40 [0.32, 0.48]) over the entire period. When adjusted for BMI, there were significant small to moderate declines in mean running speed (ES [95%CI]: 1000-m, – 0.34 [–0.39, – 0.29]); 12-min, – 0.65 [–0.70, – 0.60]). Declines were larger for boys compared to girls. Variability substantially increased over time (ratio of CVs: range, 1.7–2.9), with larger declines in children with low running speed compared to children with average or high running speed. Our findings may be important to public health because low CRE is significantly related to current and future health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: over the last few decades there has been a progressive decline in the average age of onset of pubertal development stages in both sexes. The increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity seems to play an important role in this phenomenon. Design: we undertook a retrospective, longitudinal evaluation of the average age of thelarche and menarche to evaluate the relationship between BMI and weight change during the first years of life and the timing and tempo of puberty. Methods: we evaluated data for 577 Italian girls born between 1995 and 2003. We collected the main auxological and clinical parameters, including age at B2 and at menarche, BMI SDS at B2 and menarche, gestational age and birth weight and Z-score change from birth weight (BW) to BMI at B2 and menarche. Results: the mean age of B2 was 10.06 ± 1.03 years and the mean age of menarche was 12.08 ± 1.02 years. Age at B2 and menarche were inversely correlated with BMI SDS (p < 0.0001). Both age at menarche and at thelarche have an inverse relationship with the Z-score change from birth weight and BMI at menarche and thelarche respectively (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: our data confirm a significant relationship between BMI and age of B2 and menarche. We observed a clear relationship among weight change during the first years of life, age at thelarche and menarche and the duration of puberty, demonstrating the importance of weight and weight gain in determining the timing and tempo of pubertal changes and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Linear growth and final height are reported as normal in congenital hypothyroid patients in the neonatal screening era. Methods: We evaluated the final height in 215 patients with congenital hypothyroidism to assess if it improved over the last 2 decades. Results: Final height (-0.1 ± 1.0 SDS) was higher than target height (-0.8 ± 1.0 SDS, p < 0.001) and not different among the 4 quartiles for birthdate. It was correlated with target height (r² = 0.564, p < 0.001) and height at puberty onset (r² = 0.685, p < 0.001), but not with age at diagnosis or the starting LT4/kg/day dose. The curve fitting analysis showed that the age at diagnosis progressively decreased during the 20-year study period, while the target height and the starting LT4/kg/day increased. Final height was not affected by the birthdate, the age at diagnosis, the starting LT4 dose. Conclusions: The final height is higher than the target height, but despite the improvement in the screening and the treatment, it did not improve over the last 20 years. These findings are in keeping with the described secular trend and suggest that earlier diagnosis and replacement therapy do not significantly modify final height in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract: We present 127 years of data on the physical stature of military conscripts born in Italy during 1854–1980, as well as an analysis of regional variations in height (for birth cohorts born during 1927–1980). The height of young men has increased in all regions of Italy. The secular trend and the regional changes in stature are correlated with economic growth and a general improvement of living conditions. This is suggested by the relationship between height and various socio-economic indicators. A comparison of the 1927 birth cohort with the 1980 birth cohort shows that the mean heights for populations in Italy''s southern areas, which were shorter than the national average in 1927, underwent the largest increases. In recent years, mean height has been gradually approaching an upper bound for all regions in Italy, with the exception of some central and southern regions. A multiple regression analysis evaluates the impact of living conditions on the convergence of regional heights. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: Over the last century, a progressive rise in stature, known as the 'secular trend', was documented worldwide, and especially in Sardinia, it has reached a peak in Europe. However, this situation recently ceased in several populations. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the stature secular trend has significantly leveled off in the Sardinian younger generations., Methods: Height measurements were retrieved from a database of patients undergoing digestive endoscopy, spanning generations between 1920 and 1990. Sex-specific principal component regression models were fitted to decompose stature variation into the contribution of age, period, and birth cohort., Results: A steady increase in stature was observed in generations born after 1920, with an upward surge in those born after 1950. However, a significant leveling off was observed among cohorts born after 1970 among both sexes, as mean heights stabilized at 171.1 cm with a standard error (SE) of 0.9 cm among men and a mean of 160.1 cm (SE = 0.9 cm) among women., Conclusion: Our findings support a significant slowdown in the secular trend of stature among the latest Sardinian generations. Several factors, including the consumption of low-quality food, lack of physical activity, and late motherhood, among others, may explain the decline in the secular trend., (Copyright © 2020 The Editorial Board of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. Published by China CDC. All rights reserved.)