Size and shape modifications in Sardinian adolescent girls.

In females, menarche is the defining moment of puberty, the period of life when the greatest body changes occur. In the present study, the metric and morphological variations associated with sexual maturation are defined in 155 Sardinian girls (10-17 years) and the role of some potentially influential variables is discussed: age, age at menarche and time since menarche. We studied thirty-eight anthropometric variables, the fat-free mass and the fat mass estimated by Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the difference between pre- and post-menarcheal girls of the same age (Student's t-test) and to evaluate the different role played by the variables (principal components analysis, cluster analysis, multiple regression). The results demonstrate that the body dimensions of the adolescent girls mainly increase in concomitance with sexual maturation. The age at menarche influences the fat mass but not the distribution of visceral and subcutaneous fat. The time since menarche has also no effect on the distribution of subcutaneous fat.