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Background/objectives Childhood rapid growth and earlier puberty onset have been associated with adult obesity. However, the association between childhood stunting, pubertal timing and adult obesity is unclear. We examined whether the relationship between stunting at age 2 years (y) and body composition at 23 years is mediated by adolescent body mass index, and pubertal development, using the Birth-to-Twenty Plus cohort (South Africa). Subjects/methods For 1036 participants, data on anthropometrics between birth and 23 years, maternal factors, and pubertal development (Tanner scale at 9–16 years) were collected. Stunting at 2 years (height-for-age z-score Results Stunting was directly associated with slower pubertal development and with shorter adult stature, but was not associated with adolescent BMI trajectories, adult FM or FFM. However, stunting was indirectly associated with adult FM and FFM through the direct associations between slower pubertal development and lower FM and between shorter height and lower FFM. BMI trajectories were independently associated with FM and FFM. Conclusions Being stunted in this population predicted adult body composition through slower pubertal development and shorter adult stature.

Background/objectives: Socioeconomic inequalities in diet quality are consistently reported, but few studies have investigated whether and how such inequalities vary across ethnic groups. This study aimed to examine differences in diet quality and socioeconomic patterning of diet quality across ethnic groups. Subjects/methods: Cross-sectional data from the HELIUS study were used. Dutch, South-Asian Surinamese, African Surinamese, Ghanaian, Turkish and Moroccan adults (aged 18–70 years) were randomly sampled, stratified by ethnicity. Dietary intake was estimated among a subsample (n = 4602) from 200-item, ethnic-specific food frequency questionnaires, and diet quality was assessed using the Dutch Healthy Diet Index 2015 (DHD15-Index). Wald tests were used to compare non-Dutch and Dutch participants. Adjusted linear regression models were used to examine differences in DHD15-Index by three indicators of socioeconomic position: educational level, occupational status and perceived financial difficulties. All analyses were stratified by sex. Results: Dutch participants had lower median DHD15-Index than most ethnic minority participants (P < 0.001). Lower educational level was associated with lower DHD15-Index among Dutch men (Ptrend < 0.0001), South-Asian Surinamese men (Ptrend = 0.01), Dutch women (Ptrend = 0.0001), African Surinamese women (Ptrend = 0.002) and Moroccan women (Ptrend = 0.04). Lower occupational status was associated with lower DHD15-Index in Dutch men, β −7.8 (95% CI −11.7, −3.9) and all women (β −4.4 to −8.8), except Turkish women. DHD15-Index was not associated with perceived financial difficulties in most groups. Conclusions: We observed variations in diet quality across ethnic groups. Low socioeconomic position was not consistently associated with poor diet quality in all ethnic groups. This may be due to ethnicity-specific retention of traditional diets, irrespective of socioeconomic position.