Menarcheal age in Europe

Recent studies on secular changes, urban‐rural differences, and variation of the mean age at menarche with occupation and educational level of parents, and with number of siblings and birth order in European populations are reviewed. For girls from Oslo, London, Brussels, Görlitz, Szeged, and Zagreb, and for a selected sample of young women from the United Kingdom, a halt in the trend towards an earlier occurrence of the first menstruation has been observed. In Görlitz girls and in a selected sample from the United Kingdom, the mean age at menarche has even increased. Results of the European investigations on the significance of factors commonly used to describe social stratification indicate the need for studies with a standardized multifactorial design, including as many parameters as possible. Indicators of social stratification may vary in sensitivity from one country to another. Recent geographical variation of mean age at menarche for urban populations is analysed; and the significance of different living conditions (reflected by the Gross Domestic Product), different health care facilities (indicated, by life expectancy for women and infant mortality rate), as well as quantitative and qualitative differences in diet are discussed. It is concluded that the Northwest‐Southeast gradient in mean menarcheal age in Europe cannot be explained in terms of these environmental factors, which supports the hypothesis that the observed variation is mainly due to genetic differences.