BACKGROUND Age at menarche is known to be regulated by genetic and environmental factors. To date, no menarcheal data are available on North Korean women. In this cross-sectional survey, we investigated age at menarche and its possible influencing factors in North Korean refugees. METHODS Four hundred and eleven North Korean refugees were surveyed at a North Korean female refugee camp using a...

he most important event in the whole process of female puberty is the onset of cyclic menses (menarche). The age of the menarche varies in different part of the world and is known to be influenced by genetic, socio-economic status, and environmental conditions, body status and level of education,1 age at menarche was first calculated in mid 19th century in Denmark,2 since then, many authors hav...

The subjects of the study were 418 highly successful female athletes and 512 female non-athletes drawn from all over Nigeria. Recall procedures were used to ascertain the age at menarche. The study gave the following results: In general, over-all mean menarcheal age of athletes (14.13 years) was significantly higher (p less than .05) than that of non-athletes (13.57 years). Menarche was signifi...

AIMS Previous research showing an inverse association between age of menarche and adult diabetes relied on recalled age at menarche and did not adjust for BMI across the life course. We investigated the relationship between age at menarche and diabetes, and whether childhood, adolescent or adult BMI attenuates this relationship. METHODS We used data from the Medical Research Council National ...

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), a widespread environmental contaminant, is associated with delays in pubertal development in animal studies. On 10 July 1976, as a result of a chemical explosion, residents of Seveso, Italy, experienced the highest levels of TCDD exposure experienced by a human population. Twenty years later, we initiated the Seveso Women's Health Study (SWHS), a retr...

BACKGROUND Although a declining trend in age at menarche has been observed in developed countries over decades commonly attributed to childhood excessive weight gain and sedentary life, little is known about this case in the developing countries. METHODS A cross-sectional study design and multistage sampling was used to include 660 school adolescents for analysis. Data collection included wei...

BACKGROUND Menarche age is an important indicator of reproductive health of a woman or a community. In industrial societies, age at menarche has been declining over the last 150 years with a secular trend, and similar trends have been reported in some developing countries. Menarche age is affected by genetic and environmental cues, including nutrition. The study was designed to determine the ag...