A Study of Relationship between Body Mass Index and the Onset of Menarche

Adolescence is a period of transition from girl to womanhood and puberty is a normal phenomenon of Adolescence. The landmarks of pubertal events in girls are onset of puberty, increase in height and the onset of menarche. Age of Menarche has an important health implication on girls because early age of Menarche is associated with several adverse health effects like eating disorders, depression. Type-2 Diabetes in adulthood, breast cancer, coronary Heart disease and overall mortality. Studies indicate that mean age of Menarche has decreased in last 40 years, due to increased incidences of obesity. Reduced physical activity, availability of health facilities and consumption of fast food are associated with increased BMI i. e. overweight and obesity. The purpose of this study is to find out whether higher BMI values are associated with early age of menarche. A cross sectional study was conducted on 50 randomly selected girls between 10-16 years of age. Results indicate that subjects with high BMI values attained menarche earlier than underweight or normal weight subjects.