Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:43:45.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

AGE AT MENARCHE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN BANGLADESH: SECULAR TRENDS AND ASSOCIATION WITH ADULT ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASURES AND SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2010

MD. GOLAM HOSSAIN ,
SAIMA ISLAM ,
SAW AIK ,
TUNKU KAMARUL ZAMAN  and
PETE E. LESTREL
MD. GOLAM HOSSAIN
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Malaya, Malaysia
SAIMA ISLAM
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
SAW AIK
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Malaya, Malaysia
TUNKU KAMARUL ZAMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Malaya, Malaysia
PETE E. LESTREL
Affiliation:
School of Dentistry, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Age at menarche has been shown to be an important indicator for diseases such as breast cancer and ischaemic heart disease. The aim of the present study was to document secular trends in age at menarche and their association with anthropometric measures and socio-demographic factors in university students in Bangladesh. Data were collected from 995 students from Rajshahi University using a stratified sampling technique between July 2004 and May 2005. Trends in age at menarche were examined by linear regression analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the association of age at menarche with adult anthropometric measures and various socio-demographic factors. The mean and median age of menarche were 13.12±1.16 and 13.17 years, respectively, with an increasing tendency among birth-year cohorts from 1979 to 1986. Menarcheal age was negatively associated with BMI (p<0.01), but positively associated with height (p<0.05). Early menarche was especially pronounced among students from urban environments, Muslims and those with better educated mothers. Increasing age at menarche may be explained by improved nutritional status among Bangladeshi populations. Early menarche was associated with residence location at adolescence, religion and mother's education.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 42 , Issue 5 , September 2010 , pp. 677 - 687
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anai, T., Miyazaki, F., Tomiyasu, T. & Matsuo, T. (2001) Risk of irregular menstrual cycles and low peak bone mass during early adulthood associated with age at menarche. Pediatrics International 43(5), 483–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ayatollahi, S. M., Dowlatabadi, E. & Ayatollahi, S. A. (2002) Age at menarche in Iran. Annals of Human Biology 29(4), 355–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Becker-Christensen, F. G. (2002) Growth in Greenland. Development of body proportions and menarcheal age. Ugeskrift for Laeger 164(7), 906–910.Google ScholarPubMed
Bharati, S. & Bharati, P. (1998) Relationship between menarcheal age and nutritional anthropometry in urban girls of the Howrah District, West Bengal, India. Anthropologischer Anzeiger 56(1), 57–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chatterjee, S. & Hadi, A. S. (2006) Regression Analysis by Example, 4th edn. John Wiley, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chavarro, J., Villamor, E., Narváez, J. & Hoyos, A. (2004) Socio-demographic predictors of age at menarche in a group of Colombian university women. Annals of Human Biology 31(2), 245–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chowdhury, A. K., Huffman, S. L. & Curlin, G. T. (1977) Malnutrition menarche and marriage in rural Bangladesh. Social Biology 24(4), 316–325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chowdhury, S., Shahabuddin, A. K., Seal, A. J., Talukder, K. K., Hassan, Q., Tomkins, A., Costello, A. & Talukder, M. Q. (2000) Nutritional status and age at menarche in a rural area of Bangladesh. Annals of Human Biology 27(3), 249–256.Google Scholar
Cole, T. J. (2000) Secular trends in growth. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 59(2), 317–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, G. S., Ephross, S. A., Weinberg, C. R., Baird, D. D., Whelan, E. A. & Sandler, D. P. (1999) Menstrual and reproductive risk factors for ischemic heart disease. Epidemiology 10(3), 255–259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dann, T. C. & Roberts, D. F. (1993) Menarcheal age in University of Warwick young women. Journal of Biosocial Science 25(4), 531–538.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Danielson, K. K., Palta, M., Allen, C. & D'Alessio, D. J. (2005) The association of increased total glycosylated hemoglobin levels with delayed age at menarche in young women with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 90(12), 6466–6471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ersoy, B., Balkan, C., Gunay, T., Onag, A. & Egemen, A. (2004) Effects of different socioeconomic conditions on menarche in Turkish female students. Early Human Development 76(2), 115–125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Georgiadis, E., Mantzoros, C. S., Evagelopoulou, C. & Spentzos, D. (1997) Adult height and menarcheal age of young women in Greece. Annals of Human Biology 24(1), 55–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gohlke, B. & Woelfle, J. (2009) Growth and puberty in German children: is there still a positive secular trend? Deutsches Äerzteblatt International 106(23), 377–382.Google Scholar
Haq, M. N. (1984) Age at menarche and the related issue: a pilot study on urban school girls. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 13(6), 559–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Helm, P., Münster, K. R. & Schmidt, L. (1996) Menarche in relation to infertility and adult height and weight. Ugeskrift for Laeger 158(47), 6763–6765.Google ScholarPubMed
Hesketh, T., Ding, Q. J. & Tomkins, A. (2002) Growth status and menarche in urban and rural China. Annals of Human Biology 29(3), 348–352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hwang, J. Y., Shin, C., Frongillo, E. A., Shin, K. R. & Jo, I. (2003) Secular trend in age at menarche for South Korean women born between 1920 and 1986: the Ansan study. Annals of Human Biology 30(4), 434–442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Junqueira Do Lago, M., Faerstein, E., De Souza Lopes, C. & Werneck, G. L. (2003) Family socio-economic background modified secular trends in age at menarche: evidence from the Pro-Saude Study (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Annals of Human Biology 30(3), 347–352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kac, G., Auxiliadora de Santa Cruz, C. & Velasquez-Melendez, G. (2000) Secular trend in age at menarche for women born between 1920 and 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Annals of Human Biology 27(4), 423–428.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelsey, J. L. (1993) Breast cancer epidemiology: summary and future directions. Epidemiologic Reviews 15(1), 256–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laitinen, J., Power, C. & Järvelin, M. R. (2001) Family social class, maternal body mass index, childhood body mass index, and age at menarche as predictors of adult obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 74(3), 287–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marrodán, M. D., Mesa, M. S., Aréchiga, J. & Pérez-Magdaleno, A. (2000) Trend in menarcheal age in Spain: rural and urban comparison during a recent period. Annals of Human Biology 27(3), 313–319.Google Scholar
Merzenich, H., Boeing, H. & Wahrendorf, J. (1993) Dietary fat and sports activity as determinants for age at menarche. American Journal of Epidemiology 138(4), 217–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ogata, A. (1979) Age at menarche and marriage in Bangladesh women. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 82(2), 68–74.Google ScholarPubMed
Okasha, M., McCarron, P., McEwen, J. & Smith, G. D. (2001) Age at menarche: secular trends and association with adult anthropometric measures. Annals of Human Biology 28(1), 68–78.Google ScholarPubMed
Padez, C. (2003) Social background and age at menarche in Portuguese university students: a note on the secular changes in Portugal. American Journal of Human Biology 15(3), 415–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padez, C. & Rocha, M. A. (2003) Age at menarche in Coimbra (Portugal) school girls: a note on the secular changes. Annals of Human Biology 30(5), 622–632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prebeg, Z. & Bralic, I. (2000) Changes in menarcheal age in girls exposed to war conditions. American Journal of Human Biology 12(4), 503–508.3.0.CO;2-H>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riley, A. P., Huffman, S. L. & Chowdhury, A. K. (1989) Age at menarche and postmenarcheal growth in rural Bangladeshi females. Annals of Human Biology 16(4), 347–359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rimpelä, A. H. & Rimpelä, M. K. (1993) Towards an equal distribution of health? Socioeconomic and regional differences of the secular trend of the age of menarche in Finland from 1979 to 1989. Acta Paediatrica 82(1), 87–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shangold, M. M., Kelly, M., Berkeley, A. S., Freedman, K. S. & Groshen, S. (1989) Relationship between menarcheal age and adult height. Southern Medical Journal 82(4), 443–445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silva, dos Santos I., De Stavola, B. L., Mann, V., Kuh, D., Hardy, R. & Wadsworth, M. E. (2002) Prenatal factors, childhood growth trajectories and age at menarche. International Journal of Epidemiology 31(2), 405–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terry, M. B., Ferris, J. S., Tehranifar, P., Wei, Y. & Flom, J. D. (2009) Birth weight, postnatal growth, and age at menarche. American Journal of Epidemiology 170(1), 72–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, D. & Murphy, M. (2002) Trends and differentials in menarcheal age in China. Journal of Biosocial Science 34(3), 349–361.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Windham, G. C., Bottomley, C., Birner, C. & Fenster, L. (2004) Age at menarche in relation to maternal use of tobacco, alcohol, coffee, and tea during pregnancy. American Journal of Epidemiology 159(9), 862–871.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wronka, I. & Pawlińska-Chmara, R. (2005) Menarcheal age and socio-economic factors in Poland. Annals of Human Biology 32(5), 630–638.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wyshak, G. (1983) Secular changes in age at menarche in a sample of US women. Annals of Human Biology 10(1), 75–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wyshak, G. & Frisch, R. E. (1982) Evidence for a secular trend in age at menarche. New England Journal of Medicine 306(17), 1033–1035.CrossRefGoogle Scholar