title: Pubertal characteristics in girls of qazvin province, iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Puberty is a critical time between childhood and adulthood. Many studies have reported that the mean age of breast development is decreasing. The aim of this study was to provide updated data on the pubertal development of girls and to evaluate precocious puberty in our population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross sectional study was conducted in 6 to 16 year old school girls during 2009-2010 in Qazvin. 2240 healthy girls from all geographical regions with every socioeconomic status were selected by a stratified multistage cluster design to obtain representative sample of population. A questionnaire including demographic data, anthropometric measurements, secondary sexual characteristics, menarche status and its onset was filled out for every participant. Secondary sexual characteristics including breast development (B(1-5)) and pubic hair (PH(1-5)) were evaluated according to Marshal and Tanner recommendation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean±SD of height, weight, and BMI of participants was 139.7±14.5, 36.1±12.9 and 17.9±3.7 respectively. The mean age (10th - 90th percentile) of B(2) and PH(2) were 9.71(7.67-11.4) and 9.82 years (7.84-11.42) respectively. Mean age of menstruation was 12.52 years. The mean BMI was significantly higher in pubertal females comparing to prepubertal girls (P<0.001). Average duration of puberty (the time from initiation of puberty to menarche) was 2.81 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The mean age of pubertal onset in girls living in Qazvin is 9.71 years. Menarche occurs at mean age of 12.52 and onset of puberty earlier than 6.24 years will be precocious. We found that girls in Qazvin had a slightly earlier age of initiation of puberty and of menarche in comparison with other studies in Iran.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Qazvin University of medical sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
authors: Fatemeh
authors: F
authors: Saffari
authors: Maryam
authors: M
authors: Rostamian
authors: Neda
authors: N
authors: Esmailzadehha
authors: Keivan
authors: K
authors: Shariatinejad
authors: Toktam
authors: T
authors: Karimzadeh
keywords: Breast Development; Girls; Menstruation; Puberty Onset; Pubic Hair
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