Varela-Slva_ajhb.23465.pdf (1.1 MB)
The timing of adrenarche in Maya girls, Merida, Mexico
journal contribution
posted on 2020-01-09, 11:37 authored by Sarai Keestra, Gillian Bentley, Alexandra Núñez-de la Mora, Lauren Houghton, Hannah Wilson, Adriana Vázquez-Vázquez, Gillian Cooper, Federico Dickinson, Paula GriffithsPaula Griffiths, Barry Bogin, Ines Varela-SilvaInes Varela-SilvaBackground
Adrenarche involves maturation of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis and increased production of dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate ester, dehydroepiandrosterone‐sulfate (DHEA‐S). It occurs at ages 6 to 8 in industrialized populations, marking the transition from childhood to juvenility and cognitive development at middle childhood. Studies in subsistence level populations indicate a later age (8‐9) for adrenarche, but only two such studies currently exist for comparison.
Aims
To investigate adrenarcheal age among Maya girls and its association with body composition and dietary variables. We hypothesized adrenarche would occur earlier given the current dual burden of nutrition in Mexico.
Materials and Methods
25 Maya girls aged 7 to 9 from Merida, Mexico using ELISAs to measure salivary DHEA‐S, standard anthropometry for height, weight, and skinfolds, bioelectrical impedance for body composition variables, as well as a food frequency questionnaire for dietary information.
Results
Our hypothesis was rejected—adrenarche occurred close to 9 years. While no measures of body composition were significantly associated with adrenarcheal status, girls eating meat and dairy products more frequently had significantly higher DHEA‐S levels.
Discussion
Like other populations living in ecologically challenging environments, adrenarche occurred relatively late among Maya girls. Adrenarche has been linked to measures of body composition, particularly, the adiposity or body mass index rebound, but no relevant anthropometric measures were associated, possibly because of the small sample.
Conclusion
Further studies are required to illuminate how adrenarcheal variation relates to developmental plasticity, body composition, pubertal progression, and animal product consumption in other transitional populations.
Funding
Wenner-Gren Foundation, Grant #ICRG-93
Daniel Turnberg Travel Fellowship
Wellcome Trust/National Institutes of Health (NIH) scholarship
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
American Journal of Human BiologyVolume
33Issue
2Publisher
WileyVersion
- VoR (Version of Record)
Rights holder
© the AuthorsPublisher statement
This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Wiley under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Acceptance date
2020-06-19Publication date
2020-07-09Copyright date
2020ISSN
1042-0533eISSN
1520-6300Publisher version
Language
- en
Depositor
Dr Ines Varela Silva Deposit date: 7 January 2020Article number
e23465Usage metrics
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