ESPE Abstracts

Purpose: To investigate the incidence of central precocious puberty and the effect of being overweight or obese before age 6 on the development of central precocious puberty (CPP) in Korea.

Method: National health insurance data of all children in South Korea aged 0-9 between 2012 and 2020 were examined to investigate the incidence of CPP. CPP was defined as cases in which a patient, diagnosed with CPP, received treatment for more than one year before the age of 8 for girls and before the age of 9 for boys. The data from the National Health Screening Program for Infants and Children in Korea (NHSPICK) aged 2 to 6 years between 2013 and 2016 was analyzed to investigate the effect of obesity before age 6 on the development of CPP.

Result: In boys, the incidence rate of CPP was 4.3 per 100,000 people in 2012 and increased 7.8 times to 33.7 in 2020. In girls, the incidence rate of CPP was 301 per 100,000 people in 2012 and increased 1.97 times to 594 in 2020. During the study period, the incidence rate of CPP showed a steadily growing trend in both sexes. The study subjects between 2013 and 2016, aged 2 to 6 years were 3,763,208 children. Among the subjects, after applying exclusion criteria 1,465,754 were finally analyzed. The odds ratio for developing CPP in those who were overweight compared to normal weight before age 6 was 1.74 (CI: 1.67-1.83, P <0.001) and 1.54 (CI: 1.51-1.58, P <0.001) in boys and girls, respectively. The odds ratio for developing CPP in those who were obese compared to normal weight before age 6 was 2.57 (CI: 2.42-2.74, P <0.001) and 2.03 (CI: 1.96-2.09, P <0.001) in boys and girls, respectively.

Conclusion: The incidence of CPP was increasing steadily in both sexes with a particularly high increase in boys. Being overweight or obese before the age of 6, the odds of developing CPP increase in both sexes. Weight management is necessary before school age.