Age at Menarche and Body Mass Index: A Population Study

Abstract

We conclude from our data that the relationship between BMI and pubertal development in girls appears to be a continuum.

Long-Term Secular Trends in the Age at Menarche in Israel: A Systematic Literature Review and Pooled Analysis

“…Indeed, a trend towards higher BMI has been reported in recent years among children in developed countries worldwide, and this trend may be one of the underlying causes of the observed decrease in mean AAM in these countries [22]. Our results could be linked to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity observed among adolescents in Israel in parallel with the rise in the standard of living but also growing income inequality, and increasingly sedentary lifestyle [20,21,23]. …”

“…Interestingly, Mandel et al [23], who reported the mean AAM in Israeli women upon recruitment to the Israeli Defense Force, showed that AAM was significantly and inversely correlated with BMI. Indeed, a trend towards higher BMI has been reported in recent years among children in developed countries worldwide, and this trend may be one of the underlying causes of the observed decrease in mean AAM in these countries [22].…”

“…For studies that reported AAM by ethnic group, only the overall mean AAM was included in our analysis [49,50]. In the event that two or more different studies reported the mean AAM for a similar population [23], only one [2] of these studies was included in our analysis. One study [51] that reported the mean AAM for a pooled group of women with a wide range of ages (17-54 years) was also excluded from our study.…”

“…Since the late 1960s there have been significant changes in socioeconomic factors in Israel, accompanied by an increase in adolescents' body mass index (BMI) [20,21], which may be associated with a younger AAM [22,23,24]. To the best of our knowledge, a systematic review of secular changes in AAM in Israel has not been carried out to date.…”

Relationships between features associated with vomiting in purging-type eating disorders

“…We also found that individuals who self-induce vomiting reach menarche at younger ages than individuals who use other purging methods. This finding could reflect the higher lifetime minimum and maximum BMIs of those who self-induce vomiting in this sample, as a clear inverse relation has been noted between age of menarche and BMI (Mandel, Zimlichman, Mimouni, Grotto, & Kreiss, 2004). Further, early onset of menarche is a risk factor for the development of dieting concerns and body image issues (Striegel-Moore et al, 2001).…”