Cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides during puberty: the Oslo Youth Study

The relationships of serum total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and fasting triglycerides (adjusted for body mass index, wt/ht2) with stages of pubertal development were examined in a Norwegian population of 920 adolescents, aged 10 to 16 years. For 13- and 14-year-olds, all five stages of Tanner's maturity index were represented. For the whole population, total serum cholesterol showed a larger decrease when related to sexual maturity stage than to chronologic age. For females, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides increased significantly when related to age in years; this was not found when related to the maturity index. Triglycerides showed a larger increase when related to chronologic age in males as compared with sexual maturity stage. Both among 13- and 14-year-old males, the most mature had significantly lower values for total cholesterol than the least mature. For 12-year-old males, HDL cholesterol decreased significantly with increasing sexual maturation. Among females, the more mature 12-year-olds had significantly lower values for total cholesterol compared with the less mature. Early maturing 13-, 14- and 15-16-year-olds had lower levels of HDL cholesterol compared with late maturers. These findings suggest that age in years may be a poor index of development in adolescents and that a measure of physiologic developmental age should be included in epidemiologic studies of serum lipids among adolescents.