Journal of Adolescent Health
Volume 46, Issue 3 , Pages 238-244 , March 2010

Update on Age at Menarche in Italy: Toward the Leveling Off of the Secular Trend

  • Franco Rigon, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
    • ,
  • Luigi Bianchin, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, ULSS 16, Padua, Italy
    • ,
  • Sergio Bernasconi, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
    • ,
  • Gianni Bona, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Novara, Novara, Italy
    • ,
  • Mauro Bozzola, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
    • ,
  • Fabio Buzi, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
    • ,
  • Alessandro Cicognani, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
    • ,
  • Carlo De Sanctis, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Pediatric Endocrinolgy Division, Regina Margherita Hospital, Turin, Italy
    • ,
  • Vincenzo De Sanctis, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Pediatric Division, Ferrara Hospital, Ferrara, Italy
    • ,
  • Giorgio Radetti, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Pediatric Division, Bolzano Hospital, Bolzano, Italy
    • ,
  • Luciano Tatò, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
    • ,
  • Giorgio Tonini, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Centre of Pediatric Diabetology, Burlo Garofolo Hospital, Trieste, Italy
    • ,
  • Egle Perissinotto, Sc.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to: Egle Perissinotto, Sc.D., Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health of University of Padua, Via Loredan, 18, 35128 Padua, Italy.

Received 14 May 2009 ,Accepted 4 August 2009.

References 

  1. Anderson SE, Dallal GE, Must A. Relative weight and race influence average age at menarche: Results from two nationally representative surveys of US girls studied 25 years apart. Pediatrics. 2003;111:844–850
  2. Damon A, Damon ST, Reed RB, et al. Age at menarche of mothers and daughters with a note on accuracy of recall. Hum Biol. 1969;41:161–175
  3. Liestol K, Rosemberg M. Height, weight and menarcheal age of schoolgirls in Oslo: An update. Ann Hum Biol. 1995;22:199–205
  4. Sanchez-Andres A. Genetic and environmental factors affecting menarcheal age in Spanish women. Anthropol Anz. 1997;55:69–78
  5. Vercauteren M, Susanne C. The secular trend of height and menarche in Belgium: Are there any signs of a future stop?. Eur J Pediatr. 1985;144:306–309
  6. Euling SY, Herman-Giddens ME, Lee PA, et al. Examination of US puberty-timing data from 1940 to 1994 for secular trends: Panel findings. Pediatrics. 2008;121:S172–S191
  7. Henneberg M, Louw GJ. Average menarcheal age of higher socio-economic status urban Cape coloured girls assessed by means of status quo and recall methods. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1995;96:1–5
  8. Kahl H, Schaffrath Rosario A, Schlaud M. Sexual maturation of children and adolescents in Germany. Results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS). Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz. 2007;50:677–685
  9. Lindgren G. Height, weight and menarche in Swedish urban school children in relation to socio-economic and regional factors. Ann Hum Biol. 1976;3:501–528
  10. Wang W, Zhao LJ, Liu YZ, et al. Genetic and environmental correlations between obesity phenotypes and age at menarche. Int J Obes. 2006;30:1595–1600
  11. Apraiz AG. Influence of family size and birth order on menarcheal age of girls from Bilbao city (Biscay, Basque country). Am J Hum Biol. 1999;11:779–783
  12. Ersoy B, Balkan C, Gunay T, et al. The factors affecting the relation between the menarcheal age of mother and daughter. Child Care Health Dev. 2005;31:303–308
  13. Kelsey JL, Gammon MD. Epidemiology of breast cancer. Epidemiol Rev. 1990;12:228–240
  14. Cooper G, Ephross S, Weinberg C, et al. Menstrual and reproductive risk factors for ischemic heart disease. Epidemiology. 1998;10:255–259
  15. Parent AS, Teilmann G, Juul A, et al. The timing of normal puberty and the age limits of sexual precocity: Variations around the world, secular trends, and changes after migration. Endocr Rev. 2003;24:668–693
  16. Harris MN, Prior JC, Koehoorn M. Age at menarche in the Canadian population: Secular trends and relationship to adulthood BMI. J Adolesc Health. 2008;43:548–554
  17. Hauspie RC, Vercauteren M, Susanne C. Secular changes in growth and maturation: An update. Acta Paediatr. 1997;423(Suppl):20–27
  18. Keizer-Schrama SMPF de Muinck Mul D. Trends in pubertal development in Europe. Hum Reprod. 2001;7:287–291
  19. Mul D, Fredriks M, Van Buuren S, et al. Pubertal development in the Netherlands 1965–1997. Pediatr Res. 2001;50:479–486
  20. Ulijaszek SJ, Evans E, Miller DS. Age at menarche of European, Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Pakistani schoolgirls living in London. Ann Hum Biol. 1991;18:167–175
  21. Padez C. Social background and age at menarche in Portuguese university students: A note on the secular changes in Portugal. Am J Hum Biol. 2003;15:415–427
  22. Papadimitriou A, Fytanidis G, Kouros K, et al. Age at menarche in contemporary Greek girls: Evidence for leveling-off of the secular trend. Acta Paediatrica. 2008;97:812–815
  23. Bau AM, Ernert A, Echenk L, et al. Is there a further acceleration in the age at onset of menarche? A cross-sectional study in 1840 school children focusing on age and bodyweight at the onset of menarche. Eur J Endocrinol. 2009;160:107–113
  24. Davison KK, Susman EJ, Birch LL. Percent body fat at age 5 predicts earlier pubertal development among girls at age 9. Pediatrics. 2003;111:815–821
  25. Frisch R, Revelle R. Height and weight at menarche and hypothesis of menarche. Arch Dis Child. 1971;46:695–701
  26. Herman-Giddens ME, Slora EJ, Wasserman RC, et al. Secondary sexual characteristics and menses in young girls seen in office practice: A study from the Pediatric Research in Office Settings network. Pediatrics. 1997;99:505–512
  27. Kaplowitz PB, Oberfield SE. Reexamination of the age limit for defining when puberty is precocious in girls in the United States: Implications for evaluation and treatment. Pediatrics. 1999;104:936–941
  28. Kirchengast S, Bauer M. Menarcheal onset is associated with body composition parameters but not with socio-economic status. Coll Antropol. 2007;31:419–425
  29. Slyper AH. The pubertal timing controversy in the USA, and a review of possible causative factors for the advance in timing of onset of puberty. Clin Endocrinol. 2006;65:1–8
  30. Hollingshead A. Two Factor Index of Social Position. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; 1957;
  31. Rigon F, Bianchin L. Aspetti di fisiopatologia del ciclo mestruale nelle giovani donne. Padova: La Garangola; 2000;
  32. Damon A, Bajema CJ. Age at menarche: Accuracy of recall after thirty-nine years. Hum Biol. 1974;46:381–383
  33. Hediger ML, Stine RA. Age at menarche based on recall information. Ann Hum Biol. 1987;14:133–142
  34. Koo MM, Rohan TE. Accuracy of short-term recall of age at menarche. Ann Hum Biol. 1997;24:61–64
  35. Must A, Phillips SM, Naumova EN, et al. Recall of early menstrual history and menarcheal body size: After 30 years, how well do women remember?. Am J Epidemiol. 2002;155:672–679
  36. Euling SY, Sevelan SG, Pescovitz OH, et al. Role of environmental factors in the timing of puberty. Pediatrics. 2008;121:S167–S171
  37. Danubio ME, De Simone M, Vecchi F, et al. Age at menarche and age of onset of pubertal characteristics in 6-14-year-old girls from the province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo, Italy). Am J Hum Biol. 2004;16:470–478
  38. Dorn LD. Another milepost on the road to understanding puberty. J Adolesc Health. 2008;43:525–526

PII: S1054-139X(09)00306-1

doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.07.009

Journal of Adolescent Health
Volume 46, Issue 3 , Pages 238-244 , March 2010

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution