Age of Menarche and Related Factors

Abstract

The time of first menarche is an important milestone in female sexual maturation. Some studies have shown that menarche is occurring earlier in previous decades. The onset of menarche depends on many factors including genetic, social, and environmental and ethnicity. In recent years, obesity defined the factor in menarche age. The possible contribution of prenatal factors has not been adequately explored. Data on the timing of menarche among Armenian girls is not available. The present study examines the menarche age among adolescent girls in Yerevan city. Dates regarding gestational age, birth weight and height, chronological age of onset of menarche, anthropometric dates of menarche time were collected. Mean age of onset of menarche was 11.3 ± 0.8 years old for the total group of 450 girls. Age of menarche was negatively correlated with weight at menarche and positively correlated with height. There is a reversal relation between age of menarche and Body Mass Index (BMI) at menarche. All of the analyses show a consistent and significant relationship of infant size at birth to age at menarche. Girls who were relatively long and light at birth attain menarche earlier.