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Birth weight, early life weight gain and age at menarche: a systematic review of longitudinal studies
Author(s) -
Juul F.,
Chang V. W.,
Brar P.,
Parekh N.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
obesity reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.845
H-Index - 162
eISSN - 1467-789X
pISSN - 1467-7881
DOI - 10.1111/obr.12587
Subject(s) - menarche , weight gain , medicine , birth weight , cinahl , demography , longitudinal study , weight change , pediatrics , obesity , psychological intervention , body weight , pregnancy , weight loss , endocrinology , biology , pathology , psychiatry , sociology , genetics
Summary Background and objective Adiposity in pre‐ and postnatal life may influence menarcheal age. Existing evidence is primarily cross‐sectional, failing to address temporality, for which the role of adiposity in early life remains unclear. The current study sought to systematically review longitudinal studies evaluating the associations between birth weight and infant/childhood weight status/weight gain in relation to menarcheal age. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Global Health (Ovid) and CINAHL were systematically searched. Selected studies were limited to English‐language articles presenting multi‐variable analyses. Seventeen studies reporting risk estimates for birth weight ( n = 3), infant/childhood weight gain/weight status ( n = 4) or both ( n = 10), in relation to menarcheal age were included. Results Lower vs. higher birth weight was associated with earlier menarche in nine studies and later menarche in one study, while three studies reported a null association. Greater BMI or weight gain over time and greater childhood weight were significantly associated with earlier menarche in nine of nine and six of seven studies, respectively. Conclusions Studies suggested that lower birth weight and higher body weight and weight gain in infancy and childhood may increase the risk of early menarche. The pre‐ and postnatal period may thus be an opportune time for weight control interventions to prevent early menarche, and its subsequent consequences.