In the present study the relationship between the consumption of different beverage groups and body-weight status in 5 years of study participation in German adolescents was investigated. We used anthropometric and dietary data from 3 d weighed records of 244 subjects between 9 and 18 years of age participating in the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study. Only subjects with at least four out of six possible weighed dietary records were considered. A repeated-measures regression model (PROC MIXED) was used to analyse the effect of beverage consumption on body-weight status. BMI standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) and body fat percentage (%BF) were chosen as the dependent variables. In boys, energetic beverage consumption was not associated with BMI-SDS or %BF, neither cross-sectionally nor prospectively. In girls, baseline consumption of energetic beverages did not predict baseline BMI-SDS, baseline %BF, or change in either variable over the study period. However, an increase in energetic beverage consumption over the study period was associated with an increase in BMI-SDS (þ 0.070 SDS/MJ increase in energetic beverage consumption; P¼0·01). Separate consideration of regular soft drinks and fruit juices revealed that, in girls, BMI-SDS increased with increased fruit juice consumption (þ 0·096 SDS/MJ increase in fruit juice consumption; P¼ 0·01), and to a lesser extent with regular soft drink consumption (þ 0·055 SDS/MJ increase in regular soft drink consumption; P¼0·08). In conclusion, these results suggest that an increase in energetic beverage consumption may result in weight gain, at least in adolescent girls.

This longitudinal study suggests that prepubertal body composition in healthy boys and girls may not be critical for the initiation of the pubertal growth spurt but instead affects the progression of pubertal development, which results in earlier attainment of later pubertal stages.

Early puberty onset is associated with hormone-related cancers, but whether diet in childhood influences pubertal timing is controversial. We examined the association of protein intake in early and mid-childhood with the ages at take-off of the pubertal growth spurt (ATO), peak height velocity (APHV), and menarche in girls and voice break in boys using data from the longitudinal Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed Study. Among participants who provided 3-d weighed dietary records at 12 mo, 18-24 mo, 3-4 y, and 5-6 y, 112 had sufficient anthropometric measurements between 6 and 13 y to allow estimation of ATO. Life-course plots were used to identify critical periods of total, animal, and vegetable protein intake (percentage of total energy intake) for pubertal timing. At these ages, the association between tertiles of protein intake (T1-T3) and the outcomes was investigated using multiple linear regression analysis. A higher total and animal protein intake at 5-6 y was related to an earlier ATO. In the highest tertile of animal protein intake at 5-6 y, ATO occurred 0.6 y earlier than in the lowest [(mean, 95% CI) T1: 9.6, 9.4-9.9 vs. T2: 9.4, 9.1-9.7 vs. T3: 9.0, 8.7-9.3 y; P-trend = 0.003, adjusted for sex, total energy, breast-feeding, birth year, and paternal university degree]. Similar findings were seen for APHV (P-trend = 0.001) and the timing of menarche/voice break (P-trend = 0.02). Conversely, a higher vegetable protein intake at 3-4 and 5-6 y was related to later ATO, APHV, and menarche/voice break (P-trend = 0.02-0.04). These results suggest that animal and vegetable protein intake in mid-childhood might be differentially related to pubertal timing.

Early onset of puberty may confer adverse health consequences. Thus, modifiable factors influencing the timing of puberty are of public health interest. Childhood overweight as a factor in the earlier onset of menarche has been supported by prospective evidence; nonetheless, its overall contribution may have been overemphasized, since secular trends toward a younger age at menarche have not been a universal finding during the recent obesity epidemic. Current observational studies suggest notable associations between dietary intakes and pubertal timing beyond contributions to an energy imbalance: children with the highest intakes of vegetable protein or animal protein experience pubertal onset up to 7 months later or 7 months earlier, respectively. Furthermore, girls with high isoflavone intakes may experience the onset of breast development and peak height velocity approximately 7-8 months later. These effect sizes are on the order of those observed for potentially neuroactive steroid hormones. Thus, dietary patterns characterized by higher intakes of vegetable protein and isoflavones and lower intakes of animal protein may contribute to a lower risk of breast cancer or a lower total mortality.

In both boys and girls, intrauterine and early postnatal growth factors appear to influence both early and later markers of puberty onset independently of prepubertal body composition.