The Impact of Puberty Timing on Future Metabolic and Hormonal Disorder Risk
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/QS.2025.42.60439Keywords
puberty timing, menarche, type 2 diabetes, metabolic risk, insulin resistance, polycystic ovary syndrome, gestational diabetesAbstract
Introduction and Objectives:
Puberty is occurring earlier across populations, raising concerns about long-term health effects. Early onset—marked by younger age at menarche in girls or early voice change in boys—has been linked to adverse metabolic outcomes, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) [1]. This review explores how pubertal timing influences the risk of metabolic and hormonal disorders, focusing on T2DM.
Brief Literature Review:
Earlier puberty correlates with higher risks of obesity, insulin resistance, and T2DM [1]. Each one-year delay in menarche reduces T2DM risk by ~9%, independent of adult adiposity [2]. Girls with menarche ≤11 years and boys with early voice breaking show elevated T2DM odds [2]. Early puberty is also associated with higher adult BMI, gestational diabetes, and PCOS [1,13]. Mechanisms include childhood obesity, insulin resistance during puberty, and hormonal shifts [14]. Some effects persist beyond body weight influences [5,6].
Conclusions:
Early puberty is a marker—and possibly a mediator—of increased T2DM and hormonal disorder risk [1,2]. Pubertal timing may independently impact long-term health. Identifying at-risk youth could support early interventions. Further research should explore causal pathways and prevention strategies.
References
1. Sun Y, Liu H, Mu C, Liu P, Hao C, Xin Y. Early puberty: a review on its role as a risk factor for metabolic and mental disorders. Front Pediatr. 2024;12:1326864. doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1326864.
2. Cheng TS, Day FR, Lakshman R, Ong KK. Association of puberty timing with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2020;17(1):e1003017. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003017.
3. He C, Zhang C, Qureshi AA, et al. Age at menarche and risk of type 2 diabetes: results from two large prospective cohort studies. Am J Epidemiol. 2010;171(3):334–344. doi:10.1093/aje/kwp372.
4. Elks CE, Ong KK, Scott RA, van der Schouw YT, Brand JS, Wark PA, et al. Age at menarche and type 2 diabetes risk: the EPIC-InterAct study. Diabetes Care. 2013;36(11):3526–34. doi:10.2337/dc13-0446.
5. Day FR, Elks CE, Murray A, Ong KK, Perry JRB. Puberty timing associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and also diverse health outcomes in men and women: the UK Biobank study. Sci Rep. 2015;5:11208. doi:10.1038/srep11208.
6. Ohlsson C, Bygdell M, Nethander M, Kindblom JM. Early puberty and risk for type 2 diabetes in men. Diabetologia. 2020;63(6):1141–1150. doi:10.1007/s00125-020-05121-8.
7. Jee YH, Jumani S, Mericq V. The association of accelerated early growth, timing of puberty, and metabolic consequences in children. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023;108(9):e663–e670. doi:10.1210/clinem/dgad202.
8. Villamor E, Jansen EC. Nutritional determinants of the timing of puberty. Annu Rev Public Health. 2016;37:33–46. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122606.
9. Bourguignon JP, Juul A, Franssen D, Fudvoye J, Pinson A, Parent AS. Potential interactions of endocrine-disrupting chemicals with endocrine control of human puberty. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2015;38:12–36. doi:10.3389/fendo.2024.1399984
10. Charalampopoulos D, McLoughlin A, Elks CE, Ong KK. Age at menarche and risks of all-cause and cardiovascular death: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Epidemiol. 2014;180(1):29–40. doi:10.1093/aje/kwu113.
11. Sun X, Yang L, Pan J, Yang H, Wu Y, Chen Z, et al. Age at menarche and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Endocrine. 2018;61(2):204–209. doi:10.1007/s12020-018-1581-9.
12. Petry CJ, Ong KK, Dunger DB. Age at menarche and the future risk of gestational diabetes: a dose–response meta-analysis. Acta Diabetol. 2018;55(12):1209–1219. doi:10.1007/s00592-018-1214-z
13. Arcari AJ, Freire AV, Ballerini MG, Escobar ME, Díaz Marsiglia YM, Bergadá I, et al. Prevalence of polycystic ovarian syndrome in girls with a history of idiopathic central precocious puberty. Horm Res Paediatr. 2024;97(2):134–139. doi:10.1159/000531264.
14. Ibáñez L, Potau N, Marcos MV, de Zegher F. Premature adrenarche and polycystic ovary syndrome: an insulin–androgen excess connection. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1999;84(7):2334–2340. doi:10.1016/j.ecl.2020.10.003.
15. Kelsey MM, Zeitler PS. Insulin resistance of puberty. Curr Diab Rep. 2016;16(7):64. doi:10.1007/s11892-016-0751-5.
16. Hannon TS, Janosky J, Arslanian SA. Longitudinal study of physiologic insulin resistance and metabolic changes of puberty. Pediatr Res. 2006;60(6):759–763. doi:10.1203/01.pdr.0000246097.73031.27.
17. Moran A, Jacobs DR Jr, Steinberger J, et al. Insulin resistance during puberty: results from clamp studies in 357 children. Diabetes. 1999;48(10):2039–2044. doi: 10.2337/diabetes.48.10.2039.
18. Pierce MB, Leon DA. Age at menarche and adult BMI in the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s cohort. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;82(4):733–739. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/82.4.733
19. Stöckl D, Meisinger C, Peters A, et al. Age at menarche and its association with the metabolic syndrome and its components: results from the KORA F4 study. PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e26076. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026076
20. Patton GC, Viner R. Pubertal transitions in health. Lancet. 2007;369(9567):1130–1139. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60366-3
21. Gaudineau A, Ehlinger V, Vayssière C, Jouret B, Arnaud C, Godeau E. Factors associated with early menarche: results from the French Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. BMC Public Health. 2010;10:175. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-175.
22. Padrutt ER, Harper J, Schaefer JD, Nelson KM, McGue M, Iacono WG, et al. Pubertal timing and adolescent outcomes: investigating explanations for associations with a genetically informed design. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2023;64(8):1232–1241. doi:10.1111/jcpp.13808.
23. Kaplowitz PB, Slora EJ, Wasserman RC, Pedlow SE, Herman-Giddens ME. Earlier onset of puberty in girls: relation to increased body mass index and race. Pediatrics. 2001;108(2):347–353. doi:10.1542/peds.108.2.347.
24. Ibáñez L, Ong K, Valls C, Marcos MV, Dunger DB, de Zegher F. Metformin treatment to prevent early puberty in girls with precocious pubarche. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006;91(8):2888–2891. doi:10.1210/jc.2006-0338.
25. Greenspan LC, Lee MM. Endocrine disrupters and pubertal timing. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2018;25(1):49–54.doi:10.1097/MED.0000000000000377.
26. Werneck AO, Oyeyemi AL, Cyrino ES, Ronque ERV, Szwarcwald CL, Coelho-E-Silva MJ, et al. Association between age at menarche and blood pressure in adulthood: is obesity an important mediator? Hypertens Res. 2018;41(10):856–864. doi: 10.1038/s41440-018-0079-4.
27. Brix N, Ernst A, Lauridsen LLB, Parner ET, Arah OA, Olsen J, et al. Childhood overweight and obesity and timing of puberty in boys and girls: cohort and sibling-matched analyses. Int J Epidemiol. 2020;49(3):834–844. doi:10.1093/ije/dyaa056.
28. Kaplowitz PB. Link between body fat and the timing of puberty. Pediatrics. 2008;121 Suppl 3:S208–17. doi: 10.1542/peds.2007-1813F.
29. Biro FM, Lucky AW, Simbartl LA, Barton BA, Daniels SR, Striegel-Moore R, Kronsberg SS, Morrison JA. Pubertal maturation in girls and the relationship to anthropometric changes: pathways through puberty. J Pediatr. 2003 Jun;142(6):643–6. doi: 10.1067/mpd.2003.244.
30. Zhang J, Xu J, Tang X, Wu R. Comparison of central precocious puberty frequency before and during COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Endocr Disord. 2024 Oct 17;24(1):219. doi: 10.1186/s12902-024-01749-4.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Agnieszka Buliszak, Monika Babczyńska, Piotr Marcjasz, Anna Bioły , Patryk Dryja, Agata Boczar, Ewa Chodkowska, Kinga Bielas

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 273
Number of citations: 0