Journal of Nutrition and Health

The Korean Nutrition Society (한국영양학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Determinants of age at menarche in Korean elementary school girls

초등학교 여학생의 초경시기와 관련된 결정요인 분석

  • Kwon, Mi-Kyoung (Department of Nutrition Management, Graduate School of Environment and Public Health Studies, Yeungnam University) ;
  • Seo, Eun Min (Department of Food and Nutrition, Yeungnam University) ;
  • Park, Kyong (Department of Nutrition Management, Graduate School of Environment and Public Health Studies, Yeungnam University)
  • 권미경 (영남대학교 환경보건대학원 영양관리학과) ;
  • 서은민 (영남대학교 식품영양학과) ;
  • 박경 (영남대학교 환경보건대학원 영양관리학과)
  • Received : 2015.02.17
  • Accepted : 2015.06.24
  • Published : 2015.08.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Purpose: During the recent decades, the age at menarche continued to decline in Korea and worldwide. Prior studies have suggested that early menarche may increase the risk of various social, psychological, and physical health problems in young adolescent girls, but little is known about the determinants associated with early menarche. The purpose of this study is to evaluate independent determinants of early menarche among 5th~6th female graders in South Korea. Methods: Our analysis was conducted in 95 menarcheal girls and 95 age-matched pre-menarcheal girls residing in Daegu, South Korea. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics were collected using survey questionnaires for children and parents. Dietary information was assessed by 2 day~24 hour food records and survey questionnaires, which were completed by both children and their parents. Anthropometric data were obtained from the student health check-ups at the school. Results: A multiple logistic regression analysis using a conditional likelihood method was performed for simultaneous evaluation of several risk factors. There were significant differences in that higher proportion of obesity (OR, odds ratio = 5.60, 95% CI, confidence interval = 1.34~23.42), shorter sleep duration (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23~0.87), and younger mother's age at menarche (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.44~0.93) were observed in the menarcheal group compared to the pre-menarcheal group. Conclusion: These findings indicate a possible association of sleep duration, mother's menarcheal age, and obesity with age at menarche. A well-planned, prospective cohort study is warranted to examine causal relationship.

본 연구는 초경시기의 결정요인을 규명하기 위하여 대구 3개 지역 초등학교 5, 6학년 여학생 190명을 대상으로 개별 짝짓기 환자-대조군 연구를 실시하였고, 본 연구 결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 비초경군에 비하여 초경군의 평균 수면시간이 더 적었다. 둘째, 어머니의 초경 나이가 빠를 수록 같은 또래에 비해 더 이른 초경 경험을 할 확률이 높았다. 셋째, 초경시기와 관련된 요인 중 비만이 가장 강한 연관성을 보였다. 전 세계적으로 초경 나이가 낮아지는 경향을 보이고 있으며, 우리나라 여성의 초경 나이도 현저하게 낮아지는 상황에서 본 연구의 결과는 중요한 기초자료로 활용될 것이다.

Keywords

References

  1. Zegeye DT, Megabiaw B, Mulu A. Age at menarche and the menstrual pattern of secondary school adolescents in northwest Ethiopia. BMC Womens Health 2009; 9: 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6874-9-29
  2. Ramezani Tehrani F, Moslehi N, Asghari G, Gholami R, Mirmiran P, Azizi F. Intake of dairy products, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus in childhood and age at menarche in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. PLoS One 2013; 8(2): e57696. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057696
  3. Harris MA, Prior JC, Koehoorn M. Age at menarche in the Canadian population: Secular trends and relationship to adulthood BMI. J Adolesc Health 2008; 43(6): 548-554. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.07.017
  4. Talma H, Schonbeck Y, van Dommelen P, Bakker B, van Buuren S, Hirasing RA. Trends in menarcheal age between 1955 and 2009 in the Netherlands. PLoS One 2013; 8(4): e60056. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0060056
  5. Mcdowell MA, Brody DJ, Hughes JP. Has age at menarche changed? Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004. J Adolesc Health 2007; 40(3): 227-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.10.002
  6. Park MJ, Lee IS, Shin EK, Joung H, Cho SI. The timing of sexual maturation and secular trends of menarchial age in Korean adolescents. Korean J Pediatr 2006; 49(6): 610-616. https://doi.org/10.3345/kjp.2006.49.6.610
  7. Ahn JH, Lim SW, Song BS, Seo J, Lee JA, Kim DH, Lim JS. Age at menarche in the Korean female: secular trends and relationship to adulthood body mass index. Ann Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2013; 18(2): 60-64. https://doi.org/10.6065/apem.2013.18.2.60
  8. Kim MH, Yoo IY. Knowledge of menstruation, emotional reaction to menarche, attitude toward menstruation and coping behavior among Korean primary school students. Korean J Women Health Nurs 2009; 15(1): 64-72. https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2009.15.1.64
  9. Stockl D, Meisinger C, Peters A, Thorand B, Huth C, Heier M, Rathmann W, Kowall B, Stockl H, Doring A. Age at menarche and its association with the metabolic syndrome and its components: results from the KORA F4 study. PLoS One 2011; 6(10): e26076. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0026076
  10. Elks CE, Ong KK, Scott RA, van der Schouw YT, Brand JS, Wark PA, Amiano P, Balkau B, Barricarte A, Boeing H, Fonseca-Nunes A, Franks PW, Grioni S, Halkjaer J, Kaaks R, Key TJ, Khaw KT, Mattiello A, Nilsson PM, Overvad K, Palli D, Quiros JR, Rinaldi S, Rolandsson O, Romieu I, Sacerdote C, Sanchez MJ, Spijkerman AM,Tjonneland A, Tormo MJ, Tumino R, van der A DL, Forouhi NG, Sharp SJ, Langenberg C, Riboli E, Wareham NJ; InterAct Consortium. Age at menarche and type 2 diabetes risk: the EPICInterAct study. Diabetes Care 2013; 36(11): 3526-3534. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc13-0446
  11. He C, Zhang C, Hunter DJ, Hankinson SE, Buck Louis GM, Hediger ML, Hu FB. Age at menarche and risk of type 2 diabetes: results from 2 large prospective cohort studies. Am J Epidemiol 2010; 171(3): 334-344. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwp372
  12. Ahmed ML, Ong KK, Dunger DB. Childhood obesity and the timing of puberty. Trends Endocrinol Metab 2009; 20(5): 237-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2009.02.004
  13. Lakshman R, Forouhi NG, Sharp SJ, Luben R, Bingham SA, Khaw KT, Wareham NJ, Ong KK. Early age at menarche associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2009; 94(12): 4953-4960. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2009-1789
  14. Tamakoshi K, Yatsuya H, Tamakoshi A; JACC Study Group. Early age at menarche associated with increased all-cause mortality. Eur J Epidemiol 2011; 26(10): 771-778. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-011-9623-0
  15. Oh CM, Oh IH, Choi KS, Choe BK, Yoon TY, Choi JM. Relationship between body mass index and early menarche of adolescent girls in Seoul. J Prev Med Public Health 2012; 45(4): 227-234. https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2012.45.4.227
  16. van den Berg SM, Setiawan A, Bartels M, Polderman TJ, van der Vaart AW, Boomsma DI. Individual differences in puberty onset in girls: Bayesian estimation of heritabilities and genetic correlations. Behav Genet 2006; 36(2): 261-270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-005-9022-y
  17. Adair LS. Size at birth predicts age at menarche. Pediatrics 2001; 107(4): E59. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.107.4.e59
  18. Cho GJ, Park HT, Shin JH, Hur JY, Kim YT, Kim SH, Lee KW, Kim T. Age at menarche in a Korean population: secular trends and influencing factors. Eur J Pediatr 2010; 169(1): 89-94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-009-0993-1
  19. Wiley AS. Milk intake and total dairy consumption: associations with early menarche in NHANES 1999-2004. PLoS One 2011; 6(2): e14685. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014685
  20. Rogers IS, Northstone K, Dunger DB, Cooper AR, Ness AR, Emmett PM. Diet throughout childhood and age at menarche in a contemporary cohort of British girls. Public Health Nutr 2010; 13(12): 2052-2063. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980010001461
  21. Ku SY, Kang JW, Kim H, Kim YD, Jee BC, Suh CS, Choi YM, Kim JG, Moon SY, Kim SH. Age at menarche and its influencing factors in North Korean female refugees. Hum Reprod 2006; 21(3): 833-836. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dei271
  22. Murata K, Araki S. Menarche and sleep among Japanese schoolgirls: an epidemiological approach to onset of menarche. Tohoku J Exp Med 1993; 171(1): 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1620/tjem.171.21
  23. Kaplowitz PB. Link between body fat and the timing of puberty. Pediatrics 2008; 121 Suppl 3: S208-S217. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2007-1813F
  24. Euling SY, Selevan SG, Pescovitz OH, Skakkebaek NE. Role of environmental factors in the timing of puberty. Pediatrics 2008; 121 Suppl 3: S167-S171. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2007-1813C
  25. Kwok MK, Leung GM, Lam TH, Schooling CM. Breastfeeding, childhood milk consumption, and onset of puberty. Pediatrics 2012; 130(3): e631-e639. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-3697
  26. The Korean Nutrition Society. Dietary reference intakes for Koreans. 1st revision. Seoul: The Korean Nutrition Society; 2010.
  27. Atay Z, Turan S, Guran T, Furman A, Bereket A. Puberty and influencing factors in schoolgirls living in Istanbul: end of the secular trend? Pediatrics 2011; 128(1): e40-e45. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-2267
  28. Adair LS, Gordon-Larsen P. Maturational timing and overweight prevalence in US adolescent girls. Am J Public Health 2001; 91(4): 642-644. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.91.4.642
  29. Ong KK, Northstone K, Wells JC, Rubin C, Ness AR, Golding J, Dunger DB. Earlier mother's age at menarche predicts rapid infancy growth and childhood obesity. PLoS Med 2007; 4(4): e132. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0040132
  30. Papadimitriou A, Fytanidis G, Douros K, Bakoula C, Nicolaidou P, Fretzayas A. Age at menarche in contemporary Greek girls: evidence for levelling-off of the secular trend. Acta Paediatr 2008; 97(6): 812-815. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.00806.x
  31. Silman RE, Leone RM, Hooper RJ, Preece MA. Melatonin, the pineal gland and human puberty. Nature 1979; 282(5736): 301-303. https://doi.org/10.1038/282301a0
  32. Waldhauser F, Weiszenbacher G, Frisch H, Zeitlhuber U, Waldhauser M, Wurtman RJ. Fall in nocturnal serum melatonin during prepuberty and pubescence. Lancet 1984; 1(8373): 362-365.
  33. Bralic I, Tahirovic H, Matanic D, Vrdoljak O, Stojanovic-Spehar S, Kovacic V, Blazekovic-Milakovic S. Association of early menarche age and overweight/obesity. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2012; 25(1-2): 57-62. https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2011-0277
  34. Berkey CS, Gardner JD, Frazier AL, Colditz GA. Relation of childhood diet and body size to menarche and adolescent growth in girls. Am J Epidemiol 2000; 152(5): 446-452. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/152.5.446
  35. Villamor E, Marin C, Mora-Plazas M, Baylin A. Vitamin D deficiency and age at menarche: a prospective study. Am J Clin Nutr 2011; 94(4): 1020-1025. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.111.018168

Cited by

  1. The Association between Sleep Duration and Overweight in a School-Age Population in Seoul (J Obes Metab Syndr 2017;26:45–51) vol.26, pp.3, 2015, https://doi.org/10.7570/jomes.2017.26.3.231