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Menarche age, fatness, and fat distribution in Hawaiian adolescents
Author(s) -
Brown Daniel E.,
Koenig Tupou V.,
Demorales Alexis M.,
McGuire Ka'ohulani,
Mersai Charlene T.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199602)99:2<239::aid-ajpa2>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - menarche , fat distribution , distribution (mathematics) , demography , geography , medicine , obesity , endocrinology , mathematics , sociology , mathematical analysis
Menarche age was assessed in 93 adolescent females in a sample of public schools in East Hawaii. Native Hawaiian girls had significantly lower reported age at menarche than non‐Hawaiian classmates. Age at menarche was significantly correlated with total fatness as measured by the sum of six skinfolds in girls who had reached menarche at least 2 years previous to measurement. When fatness was controlled in comparisons, the ethnic differences were not significant. Fat distribution, independent of fatness, was also significantly related to age at menarche. Socioeconomic, cultural, and admixture variables were not significantly related to age at menarche. Adiposity appears to be both a cause and a consequence of early age at menarche, with the relationship dependent on the elapsed time between menarche and measurement. This suggests that studies relating body composition to age at menarche must carefully control for the time interval between measurement and the date of menarche. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.