Biswas Sadaruddin, Koziel Slawomir, Chakraborty Raja, Bose Kaushik
Cultural Research Institute, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Institute of Anthropology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland.
Hum Biol. 2013 Aug;85(4):607-18. doi: 10.3378/027.085.0407.
Menarche, the first menstruation, is one of the most important events in a woman's reproductive life. The timing of menarche varies across populations and depends upon social interaction and family environment. It is also associated with several biological as well as social factors. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between sibling composition and age at menarche (AAM) and to assess the association between the pattern of room sharing with family members of different sexes and menarcheal occurrence among rural Bengalee girls from West Bengal, India. The total sample comprised 577 Bengalee girls, 6-17 years of age, from various schools and madrasas in two blocks of the Nadia District of West Bengal State in India. The effects of room sharing on the occurrence of menarche, and of sibling composition on the menarcheal age, were assessed by analyses of covariance. The room-sharing pattern had a significant effect on menarcheal status (yes÷no): a significantly higher percentage of girls who shared a room with the mother and÷or sisters were postmenarcheal compared with those who shared a room with male family members. AAM did not differ significantly between girls having brothers or sisters. However, sibling order had a significant impact on AAM. Girls who had a younger sibling only (brother or sister) had a higher mean AAM, and girls who had both younger brothers and younger sisters had significantly higher mean AAM, than did the girls who had no younger sibling (singletons or having only elder siblings). There was no difference in AAM between the girls who had younger sister(s) and those who had younger brother(s). These differences were also independent of body mass index. In conclusion, the room sharing characteristics and the sibling sex composition, particularly their order, had significant effect on menarche in adolescent rural Bengalee girls.
初潮，即首次月经来潮，是女性生殖生活中最重要的事件之一。初潮的时间在不同人群中有所不同，并且取决于社会交往和家庭环境。它还与多种生物学以及社会因素相关。本研究的目的是探讨姐妹组成与初潮年龄（AAM）之间的关系，并评估在印度西孟加拉邦农村孟加拉族女孩中，与不同性别的家庭成员合住房间的模式与初潮发生之间的关联。总样本包括来自印度西孟加拉邦纳迪亚区两个街区的各所学校和宗教学校的577名6至17岁的孟加拉族女孩。通过协方差分析评估合住房间对初潮发生的影响以及姐妹组成对初潮年龄的影响。合住房间模式对初潮状态（是÷否）有显著影响：与和男性家庭成员合住房间的女孩相比，与母亲和÷或姐妹合住房间的女孩初潮后的比例显著更高。有兄弟或姐妹的女孩之间的AAM没有显著差异。然而，姐妹顺序对AAM有显著影响。仅拥有弟弟妹妹（兄弟或姐妹）的女孩平均AAM较高，同时拥有弟弟和妹妹的女孩平均AAM显著高于没有弟弟妹妹（独生子女或只有哥哥姐姐）的女孩。有妹妹的女孩和有弟弟的女孩之间的AAM没有差异。这些差异也与体重指数无关。总之，合住房间特征和姐妹性别组成，尤其是她们的顺序，对农村青春期孟加拉族女孩的初潮有显著影响。
