Abstract
BackgroundDespite the increasing rates of childhood obesity and rapid change in socio-economic status, the mean age at menarche remains mostly unknown among contemporary girls in Kuwait and other countries in the Gulf region. This study aimed to estimate the mean age at menarche among schoolgirls in Kuwait and investigate the association between age at menarche and obesity.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,273 randomly selected female high school students from all governorates in Kuwait. Overweight was defined as higher than or equal to the 85th percentile and obesity as higher than or equal to the 95th percentile using growth charts provided by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2000). Data on menarche, socio-demographic status, physical activity and diet were collected using confidential self-administered questionnaire.ResultsOut of 1,273 students, 23 (1.8%) were absent or refused to participate. The mean age at menarche was 12.41 years (95% CI: 12.35-12.48). The prevalence of early menarche, defined as less than 11 years of age, was 8.5% (95% CI: 7.0-10.2%). The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 18.3% (95% CI: 16.2-20.6%) and 25.8% (95% CI: 23.42-28.30%), respectively. Age at menarche was inversely and significantly associated with odds of overweight and obesity after adjusting for potential confounders, odds ratio 0.84 (0.77-0.93); (p = 0.001).ConclusionAge at menarche among contemporary girls in Kuwait is similar to that in industrialized countries. There is an inverse association between age at menarche and obesity or overweight. Trends in menarcheal age should be monitored and time of sexual maturation and its related factors should be taken into account in strategies that aim to combat obesity.
Highlights
Despite the increasing rates of childhood obesity and rapid change in socio-economic status, the mean age at menarche remains mostly unknown among contemporary girls in Kuwait and other countries in the Gulf region
There was no significant difference in the mean age at menarche between Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis, 12.41 (1.23) years and 12.48 (1.42) years, respectively (p = 0.62)
There is no previous study with adequate methodology to compare and ascertain whether age at menarche has declined over the last few decades in Kuwait or other countries in the Gulf region
Summary
Despite the increasing rates of childhood obesity and rapid change in socio-economic status, the mean age at menarche remains mostly unknown among contemporary girls in Kuwait and other countries in the Gulf region. A similar or even larger increase in the rates of childhood obesity has been noted over recent decades in the oil-rich countries in the Gulf region [26,27,28,29] but it is not clear if this was associated with a decline in the age at menarche. The data on the mean age at menarche in industrialized countries are abundant but the data from the oil-rich countries in the Gulf region or the broader Middle East are scarce, and the age at menarche among contemporary girls remains practically unknown. We have conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate the age at menarche among girls in Kuwait and investigate the association between age at menarche and obesity or overweight
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