PEDIATRICS Vol. 111 No. 4 April 2003, pp. 844-850
Relative Weight and Race Influence Average Age at Menarche: Results From Two Nationally Representative Surveys of US Girls Studied 25 Years Apart
* Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts
Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
--> Objectives. 1) To establish with nationally representative US data whether menarche occurred earlier in the 1990s than it had 25 years before. 2) To assess whether the occurrence of menarche in relation to weight status and race had changed over this time period.
Methods. Relative weight, race, and menarcheal status of girls in the National Health Examination Survey cycles II and III (1963–1970) were compared with results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988–1994). Probit analysis was used to determine the average age at menarche during the 2 survey periods. Logistic regression was used to assess the association of relative weight to likelihood of having reached menarche.
Results. The average age at menarche dropped from 12.75 to 12.54 years, and the percentage of girls between 10 and 15 years old who were above the 85th percentile for body mass index increased from 16% to 27% over the 25 years between the 2 surveys. Higher relative weight was strongly associated with increased likelihood of having reached menarche after controlling for age and race. Black girls had a lower average age at menarche than did white girls, which was independent of the effect of relative weight.
Conclusions. These analyses from 2 nationally representative samples of US girls suggest a drop of about 2
months in the average age of menarche during the time period between 1963–1970 and 1988–1994. This was paralleled by a concurrent shift in the population distribution of body mass index z-score toward higher relative weights.
Key Words: puberty • menarche • adolescents • obesity • overweight • body mass index • national surveys
Abbreviations: PROS, Pediatric Research in Office Settings • BMI, body mass index • NHES, National Health Examination Survey • NHANES III, Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey • CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • CI, confidence interval
Received for publication Jun 12, 2002; Accepted Oct 7, 2002.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  A M Bau, A Ernert, L Schenk, S Wiegand, P Martus, A Gruters, and H Krude Is there a further acceleration in the age at onset of menarche? A cross-sectional study in 1840 school children focusing on age and bodyweight at the onset of menarche Eur. J. Endocrinol., January 1, 2009; 160(1): 107 - 113. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. L. Walker and J. G. Herndon Menopause in Nonhuman Primates? Biol Reprod, September 1, 2008; 79(3): 398 - 406. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Casazza, M. I. Goran, and B. A. Gower Associations among Insulin, Estrogen, and Fat Mass Gain over the Pubertal Transition in African-American and European-American Girls J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., July 1, 2008; 93(7): 2610 - 2615. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. Wehkalampi, E. Widen, T. Laine, A. Palotie, and L. Dunkel Patterns of Inheritance of Constitutional Delay of Growth and Puberty in Families of Adolescent Girls and Boys Referred to Specialist Pediatric Care J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., March 1, 2008; 93(3): 723 - 728. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. M. Lee, D. Appugliese, N. Kaciroti, R. F. Corwyn, R. H. Bradley, and J. C. Lumeng Weight Status in Young Girls and the Onset of Puberty Pediatrics, March 1, 2007; 119(3): e624 - e630. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. B. Nichols, A. Trentham-Dietz, J. M. Hampton, L. Titus-Ernstoff, K. M. Egan, W. C. Willett, and P. A. Newcomb From Menarche to Menopause: Trends among US Women Born from 1912 to 1969 Am. J. Epidemiol., November 15, 2006; 164(10): 1003 - 1011. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M A Bellis, J Downing, and J R Ashton Adults at 12? Trends in puberty and their public health consequences. J Epidemiol Community Health, November 1, 2006; 60(11): 910 - 911. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. T. Loder, T. Starnes, G. Dikos, and D. D. Aronsson Demographic Predictors of Severity of Stable Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphyses J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., January 1, 2006; 88(1): 97 - 105. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. K. Danielson, M. Palta, C. Allen, and D. J. D'Alessio The Association of Increased Total Glycosylated Hemoglobin Levels with Delayed Age at Menarche in Young Women with Type 1 Diabetes J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., December 1, 2005; 90(12): 6466 - 6471. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. Teilmann, C. B. Pedersen, T. K. Jensen, N. E. Skakkebaek, and A. Juul Prevalence and Incidence of Precocious Pubertal Development in Denmark: An Epidemiologic Study Based on National Registries Pediatrics, December 1, 2005; 116(6): 1323 - 1328. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. B Pierce and D. A Leon Age at menarche and adult BMI in the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s Cohort Study Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, October 1, 2005; 82(4): 733 - 739. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. R. Egger, G. R. Cutter, P. A. Carney, S. H. Taplin, W. E. Barlow, R. E. Hendrick, C. J. D'Orsi, J. S. Fosse, L. Abraham, and J. G. Elmore Mammographers' Perception of Women's Breast Cancer Risk Med Decis Making, May 1, 2005; 25(3): 283 - 289. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. E. Lane, J. L. Waller, and L. S. Davis Relationship Between Age of Ear Piercing and Keloid Formation Pediatrics, May 1, 2005; 115(5): 1312 - 1314. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K Wickens, D Barry, A Friezema, R Rhodius, N Bone, G Purdie, and J Crane Obesity and asthma in 11-12 year old New Zealand children in 1989 and 2000 Thorax, January 1, 2005; 60(1): 7 - 12. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. W Demerath, J. Li, S. S Sun, W C. Chumlea, K. E Remsberg, S. A Czerwinski, B. Towne, and R. M Siervogel Fifty-year trends in serial body mass index during adolescence in girls: the Fels Longitudinal Study Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, August 1, 2004; 80(2): 441 - 446. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. C. Windham, C. Bottomley, C. Birner, and L. Fenster Age at Menarche in Relation to Maternal Use of Tobacco, Alcohol, Coffee, and Tea during Pregnancy Am. J. Epidemiol., May 1, 2004; 159(9): 862 - 871. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. E. Herman-Giddens, P. B. Kaplowitz, and R. Wasserman Navigating the Recent Articles on Girls' Puberty in Pediatrics: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go from Here? Pediatrics, April 1, 2004; 113(4): 911 - 917. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. V. Tortoriello, J. McMinn, and S. C. Chua Dietary-Induced Obesity and Hypothalamic Infertility in Female DBA/2J Mice Endocrinology, March 1, 2004; 145(3): 1238 - 1247. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. A. Wise, J. R. Palmer, B. L. Harlow, D. Spiegelman, E. A. Stewart, L. L. Adams-Campbell, and L. Rosenberg Reproductive Factors, Hormonal Contraception, and Risk of Uterine Leiomyomata in African-American Women: A Prospective Study Am. J. Epidemiol., January 15, 2004; 159(2): 113 - 123. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A.-S. Parent, G. Teilmann, A. Juul, N. E. Skakkebaek, J. Toppari, and J.-P. Bourguignon The Timing of Normal Puberty and the Age Limits of Sexual Precocity: Variations around the World, Secular Trends, and Changes after Migration Endocr. Rev., October 1, 2003; 24(5): 668 - 693. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Decreasing Age at Menarche: Is the End in Sight? Journal Watch Psychiatry, August 21, 2003; 2003(821): 7 - 7. [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Decreasing Age at Menarche: Is the End in Sight? Journal Watch Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, June 23, 2003; 2003(623): 3 - 3. [Full Text]
|
|
