title: Development of adiposity, obesity and age at menarche: an 8-year follow-up study in Portuguese schoolgirls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It has been suggested that the decline in menarcheal age is associated with the increase of obesity prevalence.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between age at menarche and adiposity development from age 7 to 15 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 109 schoolgirls from Viana do Castelo (Northern Portugal).
  
  
  METHODS
  Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, and triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses) were longitudinally obtained at 7, 8, 9, and 15 years. Waist circumference and self-reported age at menarche were obtained at age 15. Obesity was defined by the cut-off value of 30% body fat. Ages of <12 years, 12-13 years, and >13 years were classified as early menarche (EM), average menarche (AM) and late menarche (LM), respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median menarcheal age was 12.0 years (range, 8-15 years), with 26.6% of girls classified as EM. Compared with their LM peers, EM girls were always fatter (p=0.001) and had higher waist circumference at age 15 (p=0.009). All variables showed significant negative associations with age at menarche, except subscapular to triceps skinfold ratio at all ages and height at age 15. At both ages 9 and 15 years, LM girls had the lowest prevalence of obesity (4.5% and 9.1%, respectively). The 8-year incidence of obesity in EM girls was 24.1%, while that in the AM plus LM group was 13.8% (p=0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EM seems to be a risk factor for the development of obesity during adolescence. However, this vulnerability may start to be programmed before menarche as girls with precocious menarche were already fatter than their late-maturing peers at age 7 years.
authors: Escola Superior de Educação do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Avenida Capitão Gaspar de Castro, Apartado 513, 4901-908 Viana do Castelo, Portugal. raquel.leitao@ese.ipvc.pt
authors: Raquel Beatriz
authors: RB
authors: Leitão
authors: Luís Paulo
authors: LP
authors: Rodrigues
authors: Luísa
authors: L
authors: Neves
authors: Graça Simões
authors: GS
authors: Carvalho
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008572:Menarche; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055105:Waist Circumference