Weight and menses in adolescent girls, with special reference to build

Abstract

A series of ninety-two adolescent girls has been studied with regard to certain aspects of weight, menstruation, and build. Data on age of menarche and on the menstrual cycle are essentially similar to comparable data in the literature. Normal menstrual cycles for the group are defined as cycles showing intervals of twenty to forty days with duration of flow of from four to seven days. Definitely abnormal cycles are those with intervals longer than sixty days, flow longer than eleven days. The mean menarcheal age is 13.16 years. Although the whole first year after menarche shows great variability in length of cycle, it is demonstrated that after the first two periods this variability already falls to a fairly uniform level. When the girls are sorted into build groups designated as hypofeminine (Diana), feminine (Venus), hyperfeminine (Rubens), and mixed, both weight and menstrual experience show some relation to build. Although such relations are nowhere clear-cut, it may be noted that: 1.Where weight deviations occur, the tendency is toward under-weight among the hypofeminines, and overweight among the hyperfeminines. Weight is judged by the weight-stature index. 2.The feminines (thirty-three) show contrasts with the others (fiftynine) in regard to certain aspects of menstruation. 3.No effort was made to draw conclusions about the “mixed” group, which included the two cases with “virile” builds. In the feminine group, (a) most of the girls reached their menarche within a very narrow range of the mean of 13.16 years, as against a much wider distribution in the others; (b) only one girl reported an interval longer than sixty days or a period lasting longer than eleven days, as against six reporting such abnormal periods among the others; (c) only one girl reported severe dysmenorrhea, as against five among the others reporting such pain. A series of ninety-two adolescent girls has been studied with regard to certain aspects of weight, menstruation, and build. Data on age of menarche and on the menstrual cycle are essentially similar to comparable data in the literature. Normal menstrual cycles for the group are defined as cycles showing intervals of twenty to forty days with duration of flow of from four to seven days. Definitely abnormal cycles are those with intervals longer than sixty days, flow longer than eleven days. The mean menarcheal age is 13.16 years. Although the whole first year after menarche shows great variability in length of cycle, it is demonstrated that after the first two periods this variability already falls to a fairly uniform level. When the girls are sorted into build groups designated as hypofeminine (Diana), feminine (Venus), hyperfeminine (Rubens), and mixed, both weight and menstrual experience show some relation to build. Although such relations are nowhere clear-cut, it may be noted that: 1.Where weight deviations occur, the tendency is toward under-weight among the hypofeminines, and overweight among the hyperfeminines. Weight is judged by the weight-stature index. 2.The feminines (thirty-three) show contrasts with the others (fiftynine) in regard to certain aspects of menstruation. 3.No effort was made to draw conclusions about the “mixed” group, which included the two cases with “virile” builds. In the feminine group, (a) most of the girls reached their menarche within a very narrow range of the mean of 13.16 years, as against a much wider distribution in the others; (b) only one girl reported an interval longer than sixty days or a period lasting longer than eleven days, as against six reporting such abnormal periods among the others; (c) only one girl reported severe dysmenorrhea, as against five among the others reporting such pain.