Background: The average age at menarche (AAM) has declined around the world, which is widely attributed to improvements in nutrition. This study was conducted to investigate the association between dietary patterns and early menarche ( Materials and Methods: This case-control study was carried out on 400 elementary school girls (200 early mena...

BACKGROUND Early menarche has been linked to risk of several chronic diseases. Prospective research on whether the intake of soft drinks containing caffeine, a modulator of the female reproductive axis, is associated with risk of early menarche is sparse. OBJECTIVE We examined the hypothesis that consumption of caffeinated soft drinks in childhood is associated with higher risk of early menar...

PURPOSE This study examined the relationships between early menarche and sexual behaviors among Korean female adolescents. METHODS We analyzed data from the eighth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based survey that was conducted on female high school students in grades 10-12. The survey included 17,867 students, and 974 students were assigned to the early menarche group because they had experien...

BACKGROUND Several components of dairy products have been linked to earlier menarche. METHODS/FINDINGS This study assessed whether positive associations exist between childhood milk consumption and age at menarche or the likelihood of early menarche (<12 yrs) in a U.S sample. Data derive from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004. Two samples were utilized: 2...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Females with sickle cell disease (SCD) often show late onset of menarche. In transgenic sickle cell mouse, deficiency of gene encoding endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) has been reported to be associated with late onset of menarche. Thus to explore the possible association of eNOS gene polymorphism with age of onset of menarche in SCD females, 3 important eNOS ge...

Early menarche is strongly associated with adulthood obesity; however, the relationship between age at menarche and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Korean women remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the association between early menarche and risk factors for developing CVD during adulthood using a nationwide population database.In total, 12,336 women (weighted n = 17,483,406; weighte...

Absence of the biological father in early childhood has been linked to depressive symptoms in mid-adolescent girls. Earlier studies have linked father absence to early timing of menarche, and early menarche is a risk factor for increased depressive symptoms in adolescence. No studies, however, have examined whether the association between father absence and depressive symptoms may be explained ...

OBJECTIVES The object of this study was to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and early menarche in adolescent girls in Seoul. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted with 144 middle school students in Seoul who provided informed consent. We measured their body composition, and used the questionnaire survey method for data collection from November to December 2008. P...

BACKGROUND Age at sexual debut is a key behavioural indicator used in HIV behavioural surveillance. Early age at menarche may precipitate early sex through perceived readiness for sex, or through school drop-out, but this is rarely studied. We investigated trends and circumstances of sexual debut in relation to schooling and age at menarche. METHODS AND FINDINGS A cross-sectional sexual behav...