Menarche among rural adolescent girls in Dervan (Data from the KONKAN region of the state of Maharashtra, India).

CONTEXT

Associations between age at menarche and risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease are well established in adults. But little is known about these risks in adolescents.

AIM

To examine the association between age at menarche and anthropometric indicators, and also examine nutrition among the rural adolescent girls of KONKAN region.

SETTING AND DESIGN

We investigated 1,071 school going adolescent girls who underwent holistic education and various clinical investigations as a part of community program. Age at menarche was recorded and anthropometric measurements were performed. Macronutrient intake was estimated by 24 h recall.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

We used trend statistics and logistic regression to examine the association.

RESULTS

A total of 813 girls had attained menarche. Mean age at menarche was 13.0 years. When compared with premenarchal girls anthropometric parameters were significantly higher in postmenarchal girls ( < 0.05 for all) and the prevalence of stunting and thinness was lower ( < 0.001 for both). There was a decreasing trend for weight ( < 0.001), BMI ( < 0.001), and waist circumference ( < 0.05) with increasing age of onset of menarche, and increasing trend for stunting and thinness ( < 0.001 for both). More than 65% of the girls were eating below the recommended daily allowance of calories, protein, and fat. Adolescents with late onset of menarche had increased likelihood of stunting ( < 0.01) and thinness ( < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescent girls in the KONKAN region with late menarche are thin and stunted. There is an urgent need to improve nutritional status of adolescent girls from KONKAN as malnutrition can affect the onset of menarche.