Examining Causal Determinants of Childhood Obesity and Pubertal Timing
type: CreativeWork
description: Childhood obesity is a rapidly escalating public health crisis, with prevalence rates increasing from 4% in 1975 to 18% in 2016 among children aged 5-19 years worldwide. This rise in obesity may contribute to the secular trend towards earlier pubertal development on a global scale. Both childhood obesity and early pubertal timing are linked to increased risks of various physical and mental health complications. This thesis aims to explore the genetic and hormonal factors influencing childhood obesity and pubertal timing through various analytical approaches. I first explored the associations between eating behaviour and growth across infancy and childhood. Using the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ), I assessed eight appetitive traits—four food-approach and four food-avoidant traits—against growth velocities including weight, length/height, BMI, and body fat percentage. Notably, the significant appetitive traits with growth had stronger associations with body fat percentage compared to other growth measures, suggesting a specific link between these traits and adiposity rather than overall body size. Additionally, the findings showed broadly consistent associations between eating behaviour and the growth velocities across both infancy and childhood. I estimated the causal effects of various early life factors and growth metrics on pubertal timing in both girls and boys. Using Mendelian randomization (MR) techniques, I examined factors such as birthweight, height and adiposity at age 10, and sedentary behaviours. Higher birthweight conferred later pubertal timing in both sexes, while greater childhood height and adiposity conferred earlier pubertal timing. Interestingly, adiposity had a more pronounced effect in girls, whereas height had a stronger effect in boys. Additionally, sedentary behaviours were associated with earlier pubertal timing in both sexes. All of these associations appeared to be independent of adiposity. These findings suggest that ea…
abstract: Childhood obesity is a rapidly escalating public health crisis, with prevalence rates increasing from 4% in 1975 to 18% in 2016 among children aged 5-19 years worldwide. This rise in obesity may contribute to the secular trend towards earlier pubertal development on a global scale. Both childhood obesity and early pubertal timing are linked to increased risks of various physical and mental health complications. This thesis aims to explore the genetic and hormonal factors influencing childhood obesity and pubertal timing through various analytical approaches. I first explored the associations between eating behaviour and growth across infancy and childhood. Using the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ), I assessed eight appetitive traits—four food-approach and four food-avoidant traits—against growth velocities including weight, length/height, BMI, and body fat percentage. Notably, the significant appetitive traits with growth had stronger associations with body fat percentage compared to other growth measures, suggesting a specific link between these traits and adiposity rather than overall body size. Additionally, the findings showed broadly consistent associations between eating behaviour and the growth velocities across both infancy and childhood. I estimated the causal effects of various early life factors and growth metrics on pubertal timing in both girls and boys. Using Mendelian randomization (MR) techniques, I examined factors such as birthweight, height and adiposity at age 10, and sedentary behaviours. Higher birthweight conferred later pubertal timing in both sexes, while greater childhood height and adiposity conferred earlier pubertal timing. Interestingly, adiposity had a more pronounced effect in girls, whereas height had a stronger effect in boys. Additionally, sedentary behaviours were associated with earlier pubertal timing in both sexes. All of these associations appeared to be independent of adiposity. These findings suggest that ea…
author: Olwi, Duaa
language: eng
keywords: Childhood obesity, Pubertal timing, Biomarkers
license: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/ed244f8f-5a3a-4835-b04b-f08188f8a2ef/download
license: http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved
date published: 2024-11-01
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:01Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.124556