The changing trends in the prevalence of childhood obesity, early puberty and menarche, and ethnoracial differences in the effect of BMI on the reproductive characteristics of young females around the world, warrants continuous evaluation. Hence, this study aims to investigate possible variations in the influence of BMI on the age at menarche as well as duration of menstrual cycle and menses in young girls in two urban areas in southern Nigeria. Participants (n = 52; median age = 20 years) were classified into 3 groups: normal, NM (n = 27; BMI = 21.0 ± 2.0 Kg/m2), overweight, OW (n = 14; BMI = 28.1 ± 1.2 Kg/m2) and obese, OB (n = 11; BMI = 31.5 ± 0.6 Kg/m2). BMI was calculated from the equation; BMI = weight, kg/height, m2. Cross-sectional data on menarche and menstrual cycle patterns were obtained through self-administered questionnaires. Data analysis showed a statistically significant difference in the BMI (p< 0.0001). Though the mean(± SD) ages at menarche were similar (NM = 13.0 ± 1.2 years; OW = 12.9 ± 0.9 years; OB = 13.7 ± 0.9 years)(p> 0.05), the average duration of the menstrual cycle (NM = 27.3 ± 1.4 days; OW = 27.9 ± 0.6 days; OB = 29.4 ± 1.4 days) and menstrual bleeding (NM = 4.4 ± 0.6 days; OW = 4.4 ± 0.8 days; OB = 5.4 ± 0.9 days) differed significantly according to the BMI (p< 0.0001 and p< 0.05 respectively). There was an increase in the average length of the menstrual cycle and menses with increased BMI (r = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.28 – 0.69, p< 0.0001) and (r = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.12 – 0.59, p< 0.05) respectively. However, the correlation between BMI and age at menarche was weak (r = 0.25, 95% CI = -0.02 – 0.49, p> 0.05); and the average duration of the menstrual cycle tend to decrease with older menarcheal age, though this was not statistically significant (r = -0.02, 95% CI = -0.29 – 0.26, p> 0.05). Girls with higher BMI experience longer menstrual cycle and menses compared to their normal weight counterparts. The effect of BMI on age at menarche and the relationship between early onset of menarche and the duration of menstrual cycles and menses later in life may not be causal. Further investigations may resolve these differences in relation to the reproductive characteristics of young females.
| Published in | American Journal of Health Research (Volume 2, Issue 5) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24 |
| Page(s) | 310-315 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Body Mass Index, Menarche, Menstrual Cycle, Menses
| [1] | Herman-Giddens ME, Slora EJ, Wasserman RC, Bourdony CJ, Bhapkar MV, Koch GG, 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(4):505-512. |
| [2] | Cole TJ. The secular trend in human physical growth: a biological view. Econ Hum Biol 2003; 1:161-168. |
| [3] | Arteria MD, Hennerberg M. Why did they lie? Socioeconomic bias in reporting menarcheal age. Ann Hum Biol 2000; 2:561-569. |
| [4] | Gharravi AM. Menstrual cycle patterns of college students in Gorgan-Northeast of Iran: identify its association with sociodemographic factors. Erciyes Med J 2009; 31(4):331-338. |
| [5] | Tunau KA, Adamu AN, Hassan MA, Ahmed Y, Ekele BA. Age at menarche among school girls in Sokoto, Northern Nigeria. Ann Afr Med 2012; 11(2):103-107. |
| [6] | Adesina FA, Peterside O. Age at menarche and body mass index (BMI) among adolescent secondary school girls in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. J Dent Med Sci 2013; 3(5):41-46. |
| [7] | Al-Awadhi N, Al-Kandari N, Al-Hassan T, AlMurjan D, Salhah A, Al-Taiar A. Age at menarche and its relationship to body mass index among adolescent girls in Kuwait. BMC Public Health 2013; 13:29. |
| [8] | Thomas F, Renard F, Benefice E, de Meeus T, Guegan JF. International variability of ages at menarche and menopause: patterns and main determinants. Hum Biol 2001; 73(2):271-290. |
| [9] | Chumlea WC, Schubert CM, Roche AF, Kulin HE, Lee PA, Himes JH, et al. Age at menarche and racial comparisons in US girls. Pediatrics 2003; 111(1):110-113. |
| [10] | Mumby SH, Elks EC, Li S, Sharp JS, Khaw K, Luben NR, et al. Mendelian randomisation study of childhood BMI and early menarche. J Obes 2011; 1-6. doi:10.1155/2011/180729 |
| [11] | Ahmed LM, Ong KK, Dunger BD. Childhood obesity and the timing of puberty. Trends in Endocrinol and Metab 2009; 20(5):237-242. |
| [12] | Walvoord EC. The timing of puberty: Is it changing? Does it matter? J Adolesc Health 2010; 47:433-439. |
| [13] | Currie C, Ahluwalia N, Godeau E, Gabhainn NS, Due P, Currie BD. Is obesity at individual and national level associated with lower age at menarche? Evidence from 34 countries in the health behaviour in school-aged children study. J Adolesc Health 2012; 50:621-626. |
| [14] | Striegel-Moore RH, McMahon RP, Biro FM, Schreiber G, Crawford PB, Voorhees C. Exploring the relationship between timing of menarche and eating disorder symptoms in black and white adolescent girls. Int J Eat Disord 2001; 30(4):421-433. |
| [15] | Golub MS, Collman GW, Foster PM, Kimmel CA, Rajpert-De Meyts E, Reiter EO, et al. Public health implications of altered puberty timing. Paediatrics 2008; 121(3):S218-S230. |
| [16] | Hadjisavvas A, Loizidou MA, Middleton N, Michael T, Papachristoforou R, Kakouri E, et al. An investigation of breast cancer risk factors in Cyprus: a case control study. BMC Cancer 2010; 10:447. |
| [17] | Dreyfus JG, Lutsey PL, Huxley R, Pankow JS, Selvin E, Fernández-Rhodes L, et al. Age at menarche and risk of type 2 diabetes among African-American and white women in the atherosclerosis risk in communities (ARIC) study. Diabetologia 2012; 55(9):2371-2380. |
| [18] | Stockl D, Doring A, Peters A, Thorand B, Heier M, Huth C, et al. Age at menarche is associated with prediabetes and diabetes in women (aged 32-81years) from the general population: the KORA F4 Study. Diabetologia 2012; 55(3):681-688. |
| [19] | Lakshman R, Forouhi NG, Sharp SJ, Luben R, Bingham SA, Khaw K, et al. Early age at menarche associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2009; 94(12):4953-4960. |
| [20] | Deshpande H, Burute BS, Dahiya P. Relationship of body mass index and body fat percentage with menstrual cycle pattern in adolescents. Int J Pharm Biomed Sci 2013; 4(4):114-117. |
| [21] | Fenster L, Quale C, Waller K, Windham GC, Elkin EP, Benowitz N, et al. Caffeine consumption and menstrual function. Am J Epidemiol 1999; 149:550-557. |
| [22] | Liu Y, Gold BE, Lasley BL, Johnson WO. Factors affecting menstrual cycle characteristics. Am J Epidemiol 2004; 160:131-140. |
| [23] | Chavez-MacGregor M, Elias SG, Onland-Moret NC, Van Der Schouw YT, Van Gils CH, Monninkhof E, et al. Postmenopausal breast cancer risk and cumulative number of menstrual cycles. Cancer Epidemiology Biomakers and Prevention 2005; 14(4):799-804. |
| [24] | Terry KL, Willett WC, Rich-Edwards JW, Hunter DJ, Michels KB. Menstrual cycle characteristics and incidence of premenopausal breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiology Biomakers and Prevention 2005; 14(6):1509-1513. |
| [25] | Matthews KA, Santoro N, Lasley B, Chang Y, Crawford S, Pasternak RC, et al. Relation of cardiovascular risk factors in women approaching menopause to menstrual cycle characteristics and reproductive hormones in the follicular and luteal phases. J Clin Edocrinol Metab 2006; 91(5):1789-1795. |
| [26] | WHO Media centre. Obesity and overweight. Fact sheet 2013; 311. |
| [27] | Rowland AS, Baird DD, Long S, Wegienka G, Harlow DS, Alavanja M, et al. Influence of medical conditions and lifestyle factors on the menstrual cycle. Epidemiology 2002; 13(6):668-674. |
| [28] | INDOX Cancer Research Network. Risk factors for breast cancer in India: an INDOX case-control study. Retrieved 16th September 2014. |
| [29] | Shrestha A, Olsen J, Ramlau-Hansen HC, Bech HB, Nohr AE. Obesity and age at menarche. Fertility and Sterility 2011; 95(8):2732-2734. |
| [30] | Wang W, Zhao LJ, Liu YZ, Recker RR, Deng HW. Genetic and environmental correlations between obesity phenotypes and age at menarche. Int J Obes 2006; 30:1595-1600. |
| [31] | Ersoy B, Balkan C, Gunway T, Onag A, Egemen A. Effects of different socioeconomic conditions on menarche in Turkish female students. Early Human Dev 2004; 76:115-125. |
| [32] | Euling SY, Herman-Giddens ME, Lee PA, Selevan SG, Juul A, SørensenTIA,et al. Examination of US puberty-timing data from 1940 to 1994 for secular trends: Panel findings. Pediatrics 2008: 121:S172-S191. |
| [33] | Rigon F, Bianchin L, Bernasconi S, Bona G, Bozzola M, Buzi F, et al. Update on age at menarche in Italy: Toward the levelling off of the secular trend. J Adolesc Health 2010; 46:238-244. |
| [34] | Kaprio J, Rimpela A, Winter T, Viken JR, Rimpela M, Rose JR. Common genetic influences on BMI and age at menarche. Human Biol 1995; 67(5): 739-753. |
| [35] | Demerath EW, Town B, Chumlea WC, Sun SS, Czerwinski SA, Remsberg KE, et al. Recent decline in age at menarche: The Fels Longitudinal Study. Am J Hum Biol 2004; 16:453-457. |
| [36] | Harris AM, Prior CJ, Koehoorn M. Age at menarche in the Canadian population: Secular trends and relationship to adulthood BMI. J Adolesc Health 2008; 43:548-554. |
| [37] | Pierce MB, Leon DA. Age at menarche and adult BMI in the Aberdeen children of the 1950s cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 82:733-739. |
| [38] | Freedman DS, Khan LK, Serdula MK, William DH, Sathanur SR, Berenson GSet al. The relaltion of menarcheal age to obesity in childhood and adulthood: the Bogalusa heart study. BMC Pediatr 2003; 3:3. |
| [39] | Himes JH, Park K, Styne D. Menarche and assessment of body mass index in adolescent girls. J Pediatr 2009; 155(3):393-397. |
| [40] | De Souza M, Van Heest J, Demers L, Lasley B. Luteal phase deficiency in recreational runners: evidence for a hypometabolic state. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2003; 88(1):337-346. |
| [41] | Polotsky A. Amenorrhea caused by extremes of body mass: pathophysiology and sequelae. Contemporary OB/GYN 2010; 55(8):18-23. |
| [42] | Filer BR. Obesity and reproduction. JLGH 2009; 4(4):134-135. |
| [43] | Chang P, Chen P, Hsieh C, Chiu L. Risk factors on the menstrual cycle of healthy Taiwanese college nursing students. Aus New J Obs Gynaecol 2009; 49:689-694. |
| [44] | Dars S, Sayed K, Yousufzai Z. Relationship of menstrual irregularities to BMI and nutritional status in adolescent girls. Pak J Med Sci 2014; 30(1):140-144. |
| [45] | Rich-Edwards J, Spiegelman D, Manson J, Hertzmark E, Hunter DJ, Colditz GA, et al. Physical activity, body mass index, and ovulatory disorder infertility. Epidemiology 2002; 13(2):184-190. |
| [46] | Hahn AK, Wise AL, Riis HA, Mikkelsen ME, Rothman JK, Banholzer K, et al. Correlates of menstrual cycle characteristics among nulliparous Danish women. Clinical Epidemiology 2013; 5:311-319. |
| [47] | Wei S, Schmidt MD, Dwyer T, Norman JR, Venn AJ. Obesity and menstrual irregularity: Associations with SHBG, testosterone, and insulin. Epidemiology 2009; 17(5):1070-1076. |
| [48] | Anai T, Miyazaki F, Tomiyasu T, Matsuo T. Risk of irregular menstrual cycles and low peak bone mass during early adulthood associated with age at menarche. Pediatrics International 2001; 43:483-488. |
APA Style
Sonia Izoduwa Osayande, Janet Ogochukwu Ozoene, Emmanuel Amabebe. (2014). Body Mass Index Influences the Age at Menarche and Duration of Menstrual Cycle. American Journal of Health Research, 2(5), 310-315. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24
ACS Style
Sonia Izoduwa Osayande; Janet Ogochukwu Ozoene; Emmanuel Amabebe. Body Mass Index Influences the Age at Menarche and Duration of Menstrual Cycle. Am. J. Health Res. 2014, 2(5), 310-315. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24
AMA Style
Sonia Izoduwa Osayande, Janet Ogochukwu Ozoene, Emmanuel Amabebe. Body Mass Index Influences the Age at Menarche and Duration of Menstrual Cycle. Am J Health Res. 2014;2(5):310-315. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24
Share This Article
Twitter
Linked In
Facebook
Copy
Download@article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24,
author = {Sonia Izoduwa Osayande and Janet Ogochukwu Ozoene and Emmanuel Amabebe},
title = {Body Mass Index Influences the Age at Menarche and Duration of Menstrual Cycle},
journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
volume = {2},
number = {5},
pages = {310-315},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20140205.24},
abstract = {The changing trends in the prevalence of childhood obesity, early puberty and menarche, and ethnoracial differences in the effect of BMI on the reproductive characteristics of young females around the world, warrants continuous evaluation. Hence, this study aims to investigate possible variations in the influence of BMI on the age at menarche as well as duration of menstrual cycle and menses in young girls in two urban areas in southern Nigeria. Participants (n = 52; median age = 20 years) were classified into 3 groups: normal, NM (n = 27; BMI = 21.0 ± 2.0 Kg/m2), overweight, OW (n = 14; BMI = 28.1 ± 1.2 Kg/m2) and obese, OB (n = 11; BMI = 31.5 ± 0.6 Kg/m2). BMI was calculated from the equation; BMI = weight, kg/height, m2. Cross-sectional data on menarche and menstrual cycle patterns were obtained through self-administered questionnaires. Data analysis showed a statistically significant difference in the BMI (p 0.05), the average duration of the menstrual cycle (NM = 27.3 ± 1.4 days; OW = 27.9 ± 0.6 days; OB = 29.4 ± 1.4 days) and menstrual bleeding (NM = 4.4 ± 0.6 days; OW = 4.4 ± 0.8 days; OB = 5.4 ± 0.9 days) differed significantly according to the BMI (p 0.05); and the average duration of the menstrual cycle tend to decrease with older menarcheal age, though this was not statistically significant (r = -0.02, 95% CI = -0.29 – 0.26, p> 0.05). Girls with higher BMI experience longer menstrual cycle and menses compared to their normal weight counterparts. The effect of BMI on age at menarche and the relationship between early onset of menarche and the duration of menstrual cycles and menses later in life may not be causal. Further investigations may resolve these differences in relation to the reproductive characteristics of young females.},
year = {2014}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Body Mass Index Influences the Age at Menarche and Duration of Menstrual Cycle AU - Sonia Izoduwa Osayande AU - Janet Ogochukwu Ozoene AU - Emmanuel Amabebe Y1 - 2014/10/20 PY - 2014 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24 DO - 10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24 T2 - American Journal of Health Research JF - American Journal of Health Research JO - American Journal of Health Research SP - 310 EP - 315 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8796 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20140205.24 AB - The changing trends in the prevalence of childhood obesity, early puberty and menarche, and ethnoracial differences in the effect of BMI on the reproductive characteristics of young females around the world, warrants continuous evaluation. Hence, this study aims to investigate possible variations in the influence of BMI on the age at menarche as well as duration of menstrual cycle and menses in young girls in two urban areas in southern Nigeria. Participants (n = 52; median age = 20 years) were classified into 3 groups: normal, NM (n = 27; BMI = 21.0 ± 2.0 Kg/m2), overweight, OW (n = 14; BMI = 28.1 ± 1.2 Kg/m2) and obese, OB (n = 11; BMI = 31.5 ± 0.6 Kg/m2). BMI was calculated from the equation; BMI = weight, kg/height, m2. Cross-sectional data on menarche and menstrual cycle patterns were obtained through self-administered questionnaires. Data analysis showed a statistically significant difference in the BMI (p 0.05), the average duration of the menstrual cycle (NM = 27.3 ± 1.4 days; OW = 27.9 ± 0.6 days; OB = 29.4 ± 1.4 days) and menstrual bleeding (NM = 4.4 ± 0.6 days; OW = 4.4 ± 0.8 days; OB = 5.4 ± 0.9 days) differed significantly according to the BMI (p 0.05); and the average duration of the menstrual cycle tend to decrease with older menarcheal age, though this was not statistically significant (r = -0.02, 95% CI = -0.29 – 0.26, p> 0.05). Girls with higher BMI experience longer menstrual cycle and menses compared to their normal weight counterparts. The effect of BMI on age at menarche and the relationship between early onset of menarche and the duration of menstrual cycles and menses later in life may not be causal. Further investigations may resolve these differences in relation to the reproductive characteristics of young females. VL - 2 IS - 5 ER -
Email: