What does the mean menarcheal age mean?—An analysis of temporal pattern in variability in a historical swiss population from the 19th and 20th centuries

Lehmann, Andreas; Scheffler, Christiane

doi:10.1002/ajhb.22854

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…As to say, if the environment permits an adequate growth in healthy children, the chronology of pubertal development will respect the timing defined by genetics; otherwise, it will be delayed. The impressive reduction of the variability of age at menarche observed over the centuries in most population is taken as support for this theory [1]. In fact, the reduction of the nutritional braking effect makes the pure effect of genetics clearer.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…In the last centuries, girls from several countries encountered a decline in their age of pubertal maturation. Many studies documented that the most convenient marker for the timing of puberty in girls (i.e., age at menarche) underwent a decrease of about 4-5 years from the beginning of the 19 th century (about 17 years old) to the middle of the 20 th century (<13 years old) [1]. At today, mean/median age at menarche, as available in the literature, ranges between 12 and 14 years (Figure 1) [2,3,4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The levelling-off of the secular trend of age at menarche among Italian girls

Piras

Bozzola

Bianchin³

et al. 2020

Heliyon

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The main aim of this study was to verify whether the secular trend stopped in Italy by comparing the results of a 1990-2000 birth cohort versus a 1980-1990 birth cohort of Italian young women. The results were used to speculate about age at menarche as adaptive response to non-genetic factors. Methods: In 2016, a study was set on 413, 18-to-26 year-old women (1990-2000 birth cohort) attending two Italian Universities by web-based, self-reported questionnaires. Previously in 2000, a research including 3,783 high school female students (1980-1990 birth cohort) was led. The age at menarche distribution was performed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. The comparison between the findings of the two birth cohorts was performed by Wilcoxon sum-rank test. Mixed models analysis was applied to evaluate the effect of cohort and socio-economic status on age at menarche. Results: 1990-2000 cohort's age at menarche median was 12.44y (95%CI 12.37; 12.59y). There was no significant difference with age at menarche of the previous cohort (p ¼ 0.56). Consistently, the advance of age at menarche in comparison to the mothers' one was not significantly different between the two cohorts (-0.27yAE0.10y vs -0.25yAE0.03y, p ¼ 0.33). The socio-economic level was not significantly associated with menarcheal age. Conclusions: The findings of this study confirm that, like in other developed countries, the advance of age at menarche has stopped in Italy, consistently with the stop of the improvement of socio-economic conditions. Further studies are needed to explore the differential effect of each non-genetic factor to outline future scenarios of human sexual maturation. Trial registration: the Comitato Etico per la Sperimentazione Clinica (CESC) della Provincia di Padova of the Veneto Region (Italy), n 3993/U16/16.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The levelling-off of the secular trend of age at menarche among Italian girls

Piras

Bozzola

Bianchin³

et al. 2020

Heliyon

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“…Menarche is a key life history event shaping the onset of a female’s reproductive career [1–8]. Unlike other pubertal characteristics that manifest gradually (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the timing of menarche correlated with mortality and fertility rates?

et al. 2019

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Timing of menarche has largely been studied in the context of a secular trend. However, since mortality and fertility rates are fundamental demographic factors linked to a population’s developmental and reproductive characteristics, we expect that the timing of menarche, a precondition to reproduction, is also associated with these vital rates. We conduct an analysis of 89 countries and 21 demographic, socioeconomic, nutritional, and educational variables selected for their known influence on menarche. Model results predict that a country’s fertility and adult female mortality rates are significant predictors of mean age at menarche, while other covariates are not. Specifically, menarche is delayed in countries with high mortality and high fertility, which may be proxies for assessing overall environmental quality. We emphasize that, for a comprehensive understanding of the timing of menarche, it is critical to take into account both individual- and population-level influences.

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“…In addition, also the age of peak growth velocity changed over time. For instance, in Japanese males this peak was around 14.7 years in the 1950s and 12.7 years in the 1990s, similarly, for girls the mean menarcheal age declined in the last decades . Furthermore, the mandibular growth peak appeared on average three/six months earlier, as suggested by Patcas, when comparing children of the ‘40s‐‘60s with children of the ‘80s .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Differences in craniofacial growth of Class II individuals from different decades: A retrospective study

Rongo

Martina

Bucci

et al. 2019

Orthod Craniofacial Res

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Objectives To detect changes in mandibular growth between a historical group (HG) from the American Association of Orthodontics Foundation Craniofacial Growth Legacy Collection (AAOF Legacy) and a contemporary group (CG) of normodivergent or hypodivergent Class II untreated subjects. Setting and Sample Population. The sample included radiographs from the AAOF Legacy and from the University of Naples ‘Federico II’ collected during a previous RCT. Materials & Methods The HG was composed of 26 individuals (around 1960) from the AAOF Legacy (15 from the Burlington Growth Study, nine from the Oregon Growth Study and two from the Michigan Growth Study) who were matched by sex, age and race with the 26 individuals of the CG (around 2010). Two lateral cephalograms obtained at T0 and T1 (12 months) were selected, and one examiner performed the cephalometric measurements according to Pancherz's method. The normal distribution of data was confirmed by the Shapiro‐Wilk test, MANOVA analysis and t test for paired and unpaired data were performed. The level of significance was set according to Bonferroni's correction. Results At T0 and T1, the between‐group comparisons revealed greater linear dimensions for Maxillary base, Maxillary incisor and Mandibular incisor in the CG than in the HG (P ≤ 0.002). No significant difference was found in the growth rate for linear skeletal measurement between the HG and the CG. Conclusions In this study, the cephalometric analysis showed larger maxillary dimensions for the CG than the HG, while no differences were shown between the growth rate and direction of the two groups.

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What does the mean menarcheal age mean?—An analysis of temporal pattern in variability in a historical swiss population from the 19th and 20th centuries

Cited by 15 publications

References 60 publications

The levelling-off of the secular trend of age at menarche among Italian girls

The levelling-off of the secular trend of age at menarche among Italian girls

Is the timing of menarche correlated with mortality and fertility rates?

Differences in craniofacial growth of Class II individuals from different decades: A retrospective study

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