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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.

Sec. Pediatric Endocrinology

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1650247

IMPACT OF DIETARY PATTERNS ON BODY WEIGHT IN GIRLS WITH CENTRAL PRECOCIOUS PUBERTY TREATED WITH LEUPROLIDE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Provisionally accepted
Fabiana  Neves FigueiredoFabiana Neves Figueiredo1Aline  De Piano GanenAline De Piano Ganen1Carolina  Costa FigueiredoCarolina Costa Figueiredo2Nara Michelle  Araújo EvangelistaNara Michelle Araújo Evangelista2Vânia de Fátima  Tonetto FernandesVânia de Fátima Tonetto Fernandes1,2Luciana  de Aguiar PachecoLuciana de Aguiar Pacheco2Tatiana  KatoTatiana Kato2Guido  de Paula Colares NetoGuido de Paula Colares Neto1,2*
  • 1Centro Universitário São Camilo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2Hospital Infantil Darcy Vargas, São Paulo, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective: To evaluate the nutritional status and dietary patterns of girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) undergoing treatment with leuprolide acetate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 59 girls, aged 5 to 13 years, diagnosed with CPP and treated with leuprolide acetate. Between May and December 2021, a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and a 24-hour dietary recall (24-h DR) were administered. The Fornés score was used to quantify consumption markers of healthy (beans, fruits, vegetables, and greens) and unhealthy (hamburgers, sugar-sweetened beverages, ultra-processed foods, and sweets) foods. Higher scores reflected greater intake of the respective food groups. Results: Of the participants, 31 (52.5%) showed a reduction in their BMI Z-score (mean change: −0.32 ± 0.26), while 28 (47.5%) had an increase (mean change: 0.25 ± 0.22). Girls who reduced their BMI Z-score had significantly higher Fornés scores for healthy food markers (p = 0.02), particularly for fresh fruits (p = 0.04) and greens and vegetables (p = 0.01). A negative correlation was found between BMI Z-score variation and the Fornés score for healthy food markers (p = 0.02), including fruits (p = 0.02) and greens and vegetables (p = 0.02). No significant associations were observed between BMI Z-score variation and age at treatment onset (p = 0.22) or treatment duration (p = 0.43). Conclusion: In girls with CPP treated with leuprolide acetate, greater consumption of healthy foods—especially fruits and vegetables—was associated with decreased BMI Z-scores. These findings underscore the role of dietary quality in energy balance and support nutritional monitoring during GnRHa therapy, particularly under lifestyle-altering conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: dietary pattern, Nutritional Status, COVID-19, precocious puberty, Leuprolide

Received: 19 Jun 2025; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Figueiredo, Ganen, Figueiredo, Evangelista, Fernandes, Pacheco, Kato and Colares Neto. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Guido de Paula Colares Neto, Centro Universitário São Camilo, São Paulo, Brazil

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