4 Topic Commentaries

Does childhood BMI relate to later reproduction?

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  Natalie Shaw, MD, MD

  Pediatric neuroendocrinology

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  National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health

  “In late puberty, girls with greater body fat also showed earlier menarche and delayed breast maturation, as determined by breast ultrasound.”

  Source
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  Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, MD, PhD

  Endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism

  •

  University at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

  “The implications of our findings are, frankly, horrendous because these boys are potentially impotent and infertile.”

  Source
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  Lauren Houghton, PhD, PhD

  Epidemiology (puberty and reproductive epidemiology)

  •

  Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

  “While stress and BMI have long been recognized as independent predictors of puberty, few studies have examined how they interact with a girl’s hormones,” “Our findings challenge conventional research that has largely focused on estrogen and body size, highlighting instead the role of stress and androgens—typically thought of as male hormones—in shaping pubescent development.”

  Source
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  Mary Beth Terry, PhD, PhD

  Cancer and reproductive epidemiology

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  Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center; Silent Spring Institute

  “Unlike prior research, this study simultaneously examined hormonal patterns, BMI, and psychosocial stress—captured through standardized behavioral assessments—within the same cohort,” “Interestingly, we also learned that the associations were consistent regardless of family history of breast cancer.”

  Source