Precocious pubertal events in Chilean children: ethnic disparities

Abstract

© 2018, Italian Society of Endocrinology (SIE).Purpose: Puberty onset exhibits remarkable inter-individual and ethnic differences. 5% of Chileans are indigenous but puberty ethnic disparities have not been studied. We aim for evaluating precocious puberty prevalence in children with Mapuche ancestry vs non-indigenous Chilean children (according to their surnames). Methods: Longitudinal cohort study: 1003 children (50.2% girls) participating in the Growth and Obesity Chilean Cohort Study (GOCS) were studied. Annual anthropometry was measured since 4–7 years. Subsequently, Tanner staging and anthropometry were measured every 6 months. In girls, Tanner stage was assessed by breast palpation and in boys by testicular volume measurements. The cohort was stratified in three groups depending on Mapuche surname numbers as follows: (A) no indigenous surnames (n = 811), (B) one to two indigenous surnames (n = 147), and (C) three or more indigenous surnames (n = 45). We evaluated the prevalence o