ESPE Abstracts

Background: There is limited information on the ability of demographic or lifestyle factors to predict short term changes in weight status during childhood.Objective and hypotheses: To study the effect of parental (educational level, BMI status and perception of child’s weight status) and childhood factors (eating habits, sedentary behaviour and physical activity), on 1-year BMI increments by the use of BMI, BMI SDS and BMI SDS conditional gain....

Background: Clinical assessment of pubertal breast development using Tanner staging is subjective. This has led to the introduction of ultrasound, aiming for a more objective analysis. However, information regarding its reliability is lacking.Objective: To examine intra- and inter-observer agreement of breast maturity staging using ultrasound, and to examine the precision of direct measurements of the gland.Materials and methods: F...

Background: Anthropometry is the general tool for defining overweight and obesity, with BMI cut-offs adjusted for sex and age, as the most commonly used variable in childhood.Objective and hypotheses: Based on the interrelationships between BMI and different overweight-related anthropometric variables we wanted to find out which anthropometric variables contribute most to the variation in BMI, and how age affect this picture?Method...

Aim: Data on weight status are essential to guide the development of preventive measures, which can reduce adverse consequences for health. The aim of this study was to estimate trends, from 2010 to 2022, in the prevalence of overweight, obesity and severe obesity, using the International Obesity Task Force cut-off values. Weight trends were explored in children between 2 and 14 years in the municipality of Bergen, Norway.Methods...

Background: The timing of puberty is influenced by different factors, one of which is body composition. The aim of the current study was to investigate if anthropometric indicators of body composition, body mass index(BMI), waist circumference(WC), subscapular skinfold(SSF) and body fat percentage(BF%) were differentially associated with occurrence of breast development, pubic hair and menarche in Norwegian girls.Methods:</strong...

Background/Aims: Length and weight of all children in Flanders are monitored every three years at school from the age of 3 years. The current criteria used for referral to specialized care are: height SDS < -2.5, height SDS between -2 and -2.5 SDS with a height SDS adjusted for parental height < -1.64, or a decrease in height SDS of more than 1 SDS in the past 3 years. The aim of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of the Flemish referral criter...

Background: Prader orchidometry has been the standard method for evaluating testicular size. As this technique is subjective and tends to overestimate the testicular volume, ultrasound has been proposed as a more reliable method.Objective: To evaluate the intra- and inter-observer agreement of ultrasound measurements of testicular volume and comparison with Prader orchidometry.Materials and methods: Length, width and depth of the r...

Background: Recent research has demonstrated earlier testicular and pubertal development in Western boys. New ultrasound-based references of testicular growth in Norwegian boys are now available. Population specific references for FSH, LH and sex steroid hormones have not been previously available in Norwegian children and adolescents.Objective and hypotheses: We aimed to provide an elaborate description of pubertal development in a sample of contemporar...

Background and aim: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic chemicals found in everyday consumer products. These chemicals are considered endocrine disruptive. However, their effect on pubertal onset and development is still unclear. The aim of the current study was therefore to explore the relationship between PFAS exposure and pubertal development using novel objective pubertal phenotyping, e.g., ultrasound-determined testicular v...

Objective: Recent studies have suggested earlier onset of pubertal development in boys. As assessment with orchidometer tends to overestimate true testicular volume (TV), and measurements based on ultrasound (US) have been proposed as a more reliable method, we present US based references in 6-16 year-old Norwegian boys. Our results are compared with data from Europe and the United States (U.S.) in order to establish evidence for an ongoing secular trend in ma...