Objective: To explore the association between overall diet quality and pubertal development among children.
Methods: A total of 1713 children and adolescents aged 7 - 15 years in Chengdu were recruited by cluster sampling and surveyed using food frequency questionnaires to collect information on their intakes and frequency of all kinds of foods and drinks over the past year. Diet quality of participants was evaluated using Chinese Children Dietary Index. Pubertal development was assessed according to the Tanner method.
Results: The mean dietary index score of boys and girls were 57.57 ± 11.32 and 59.73 ± 11.50, respectively. The prevalence of spermarche or voice break was lowest among boys with higher diet quality. Similarly, girls with higher diet quality had a significantly lowest prevalence of menarche. Scores of Chinese Children Dietary Index for both boys and girls with higher degree of pubertal development were the lowest.
Conclusion: The overall diet quality of children and adolescents was negatively associated with their pubertal development. Moreover, this association appeared to be stronger in girls than that in boys.