Rebacz Ewa
Department of Anthropology, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland.
Coll Antropol. 2009 Mar;33(1):23-9.
The goal of this study is to determine the age at menarche of girls from Tanzania examined in 2005 considering their families' social and material status. For the purpose of the analysis of the age at menarche, N = 71 girls were qualified (N = 8 from Dares Salaam and N = 63 from Mafinga) out of N = 98 who took part in the anthropological study. The calendar age of the girls who qualified for the determination of the age at menarche ranged from 12.9 to 22.7 years of age (X = 15.9 +/- 1.9). The age at menarche revealed using the recall method was 14.3 +/- 1.1 years. The menarche of the girls included in the study with a parent (mother or father) residing in town was found to be earlier (14.1 and 14.0 respectively). When neither parent completed schooling or had only primary education, the age at the daughter's menarche was on average 15.0 years. The girls whose fathers completed secondary school had their first menstruation at 14.8 years, while the daughters of mothers who finished secondary school--at 14.5. The lowest age at menarche was found in the group of girls whose parents obtained higher education (13.4 years in the case of the father and 13.3 in the case of the mother). A higher age at menarche was typical of the group of girls from families in which the number of children in the household was > or = 6 (15.2). In the two-way ANOVA equation, the lowest age at menarche was found in the girls whose families lived in town and had higher education, while the highest--where the family lived in the countryside and did not finish school or had primary school only. In the two-way ANOVA equation (education*self-estimation of the family's material situation), the lowest age at menarche (13.2) was found in the group where the father had higher education and the material situation was assessed as very good or rather good. My own studies are representative for similar African environments. The results obtained allow for comparison with research findings for highly developed countries, yet it is difficult to ascertain unanimously whether the causes for the age at menarche decreasing are the same. It seems that Africa with its environmental conditioning is governed by its own rules.
本研究的目的是确定2005年接受检查的坦桑尼亚女孩的初潮年龄，并考虑其家庭的社会和物质状况。为了分析初潮年龄，在参与人类学研究的98名女孩中，有71名符合条件（达累斯萨拉姆8名，马芬加63名）。符合确定初潮年龄条件的女孩的实际年龄在12.9岁至22.7岁之间（X = 15.9 +/- 1.9）。采用回忆法得出的初潮年龄为14.3 +/- 1.1岁。研究发现，父母（母亲或父亲）居住在城镇的女孩初潮较早（分别为14.1岁和14.0岁）。当父母双方都未完成学业或仅接受过小学教育时，女儿的初潮平均年龄为15.0岁。父亲完成中学学业的女孩初潮年龄为14.8岁，母亲完成中学学业的女孩初潮年龄为14.5岁。初潮年龄最低的是父母接受过高等教育的女孩群体（父亲为13.4岁，母亲为13.3岁）。家庭子女数≥6个的女孩群体初潮年龄较高（15.2岁）。在双向方差分析方程中，初潮年龄最低的是家庭居住在城镇且接受过高等教育的女孩，而最高的是家庭居住在农村且未完成学业或仅接受过小学教育的女孩。在双向方差分析方程（教育*家庭物质状况自我评估）中，初潮年龄最低（13.2岁）的是父亲接受过高等教育且家庭物质状况被评估为非常好或较好的群体。我自己的研究对于类似的非洲环境具有代表性。所获得的结果有助于与高度发达国家的研究结果进行比较，但很难一致确定初潮年龄下降的原因是否相同。似乎非洲因其环境条件而有其自身的规律。
