Tsuzaki S, Matsuo N, Ogata T, Osano M
Department of Paediatrics, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
Ann Hum Biol. 1989 Sep-Oct;16(5):429-36. doi: 10.1080/03014468900000552.
During the past century, Japanese children have shown a most dramatic secular trend toward earlier menarche and accelerated tempo of growth. In order to assess the inter-relationship between these dual secular trends, we analysed the data on height and weight measurements of Japanese children, collected by the Japanese Ministry of Education in the years from 1900 through 1986, with reference to various retrospective studies on the age of menarche among Japanese. Between 1950 and 1983, both the mean height and weight at menarche varied significantly but percentage of the mean height achieved at menarcheal age, as compared with the mature height, remained relatively stable at approximately 95%. The results indicate that the secular trend toward earlier menarche reflects largely, if not solely, the secular change in tempo of physical growth in Japanese children.
在过去的一个世纪里，日本儿童出现了初潮提前和生长速度加快这一最为显著的长期趋势。为了评估这两种长期趋势之间的相互关系，我们参考了关于日本初潮年龄的各种回顾性研究，分析了日本文部省在1900年至1986年期间收集的日本儿童身高和体重测量数据。在1950年至1983年期间，初潮时的平均身高和体重均有显著变化，但初潮年龄时达到的平均身高与成熟身高相比，百分比仍相对稳定，约为95%。结果表明，初潮提前的长期趋势在很大程度上（如果不是唯一的话）反映了日本儿童身体生长速度的长期变化。
