Association of Traditional dietary pattern with early and precocious puberty: a population-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Precocious puberty is an endocrine disease that is diagnosed by sex, age, and Tanner stage of puberty. This study aimed to investigate the association between various dietary patterns and early or precocious puberty, especially Traditional dietary patterns, which have been rarely investigated. METHODS: A total of 4085 primary school students in grades 1-3 (6-9 years) completed individual characteristic surveys, health examinations, and food frequency questionnaires (FFQs). Physical examinations were also conducted to assess obesity and pubertal onset. Traditional, Westernized, and Protein dietary patterns were determined by factor analysis, and their associations with pubertal onset were analyzed by multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Compared to the other two patterns, children who predominant the Traditional dietary pattern were protectively associated with precocious puberty (OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.55, 0.94), even after adjusting the confounders (OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.48, 0.89). Neither the Westernized nor Protein dietary pattern demonstrated an association with pubertal onset. The Traditional dietary pattern was negatively associated with children's weight status, classified by body mass index (BMI), and was positively associated with parental education. The maternal education and the Protein dietary pattern were negatively related. CONCLUSIONS: Traditional dietary patterns were protective associated with early and precocious puberty among Chinese children. IMPACT: The Traditional dietary pattern was protective associated with early puberty or precocious puberty in children, as found in large-scale population-based public health research. Current research primarily focuses on Westernized dietary patterns, and we studied Traditional dietary patterns to further explore the influence of food on children's puberty development. We discovered that children's preference for Traditional dietary patterns is protective of pubertal development, which implies that society and parents can benefit from diet guidance to protect children's natural development during adolescence.

Revealing the synergy between zinc and aluminum in Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 industrial catalyst.

The active sites in Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 industrial catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol need to be fully clarified. In this work, we reveal two types of active sites at the nano-sized Cu/ZnO interface, of which only one type is efficient. The efficient active site is characterized by isolated and under-coordinated Zn atoms located at the vertices of the supported ZnO island, thus the density of which is so limited. To anchor such Zn atoms onto other islands on Cu with high density is the key to enhancing the catalytic activity. To replace ZnO with Al2O3 islands on Cu is not favored energetically. However, under reduction condition, Zn single atoms can stably decorate the edges of the Al2O3 islands, resulting in the enhancement of the efficient active sites at the Cu/oxide interface. This could be the mechanism of the synergy effects taking place in the Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst.