Abstract
AimTo assess and compare the secular trend in age at menarche in Dutch girls (1955–2009) and girls from Turkish and Moroccan descent living in the Netherlands (1997–2009).MethodsData on growth and maturation were collected in 20,867 children of Dutch, Turkish and Moroccan descent in 2009 by trained health care professionals. Girls, 9 years and older, of Dutch (n = 2138), Turkish (n = 282), and Moroccan (n = 295) descent were asked whether they had experienced their first period. We compared median menarcheal age in 2009 with data from the previous Dutch Nationwide Growth Studies in 1955, 1965, 1980 and 1997. Age specific body mass index (BMI) z-scores were calculated to assess differences in BMI between pre- and postmenarcheal girls in different age groups.ResultsMedian age at menarche in Dutch girls, decreased significantly from 13.66 years in 1955 to 13.15 years in 1997 and 13.05 years in 2009. Compared to Dutch girls there is a larger decrease in median age of menarche in girls of Turkish and Moroccan descent between 1997 and 2009. In Turkish girls age at menarche decreased from 12.80 to 12.50 years and in Moroccan girls from 12.90 to 12.60 years. Thirty-three percent of Turkish girls younger than 12 years start menstruating in primary school. BMI-SDS is significantly higher in postmenarcheal girls than in premenarcheal girls irrespective of age.ConclusionThere is a continuing secular trend in earlier age at menarche in Dutch girls. An even faster decrease in age at menarche is observed in girls of Turkish and Moroccan descent in the Netherlands.
Highlights
Menarcheal age is the most widely used indicator of sexual maturation and can be used as an indicator of female health, growth and development, and the capacity to reproduce [1,2,3,4,5]
The aim of this study is: 1) to assess median age at menarche in the Netherlands, in three ethnic groups; 2) to assess whether there is a secular trend by comparing data on age at menarche from previous Dutch Growth Studies; and 3) to investigate the differences in body mass index (BMI)-Standard Deviation Score (SDS) in premenarcheal and postmenarcheal Dutch girls in the 1980, 1997 and 2009 studies
Age at menarche in Turkish girls living in Germany in 1985 was 12.90 years, this is comparable to median age at menarche (12.80 years) in girls of Turkish descent in our study 12 years later (1997)
Summary
Menarcheal age is the most widely used indicator of sexual maturation and can be used as an indicator of female health, growth and development, and the capacity to reproduce [1,2,3,4,5]. [3;4;6,7,8] Several studies from various developed countries worldwide have shown a systematic decrease in median age at menarche in the past 160 years [1;7;9,10,11,12,13,14]. In Europe the median age at menarche decreased with 2 to 3 months per decade from 16.5 years in 1840 to about 13.0 years in the 1960s, with 0.5 years variation between countries. Several studies suggest a relationship between increasing obesity and decline of median age at menarche [21;22]. Others suggest that menarche is accompanied or quickly followed by a rapid increase in body weight [23]
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