Abstract :
Age at menarche is a significant indicator of growth and sexual maturation in girls.
During adolescence, anthropometry provides a tool for monitoring and evaluating the
hormone-mediated changes in growth and reproductive maturation. Menarche is
defined as the first menstrual period. It is considered to be the most obvious sign of
puberty in girls. It has been regarded in many cultures as a transitional step to
womanhood. This is a cross-sectional study which is done on 1009 school girls who
belonged to Salboni block of district Paschim Medinipur of West Bengal, India.To study
effect of nutrition on age at menarche, different anthropometric measurements were
applied. The study had been done on 10-19 adolescents school girls (1009). For this
study, different types of anthropometric measurements were taken like weight and
height. Height is measured through anthropometric rod, and weight by a weighing
machine. Triceps and biceps Skinfolds are taken by skinfold caliper. Structured
questionnaires were followed to know details of socio-economic status. Height was
measured to the nearest 0.1 cm and weight to the nearest 0.5 kg. Each subject was
weighed with minimum clothing and no footwear. Among studied sample,896 girls had
experienced menarche. Their mean age at menarche was 11.88 years (1.23). To
compare anthropometric variable premenarchel and postmenarcheal girls that mean
anthropometric measurement of premenarcheal girls more higher than post
menarcheal girls in studied girls minimum age at menarche is 9 years and maximum age
at menarche was 17 years. Body mass index increased progressively from 13 years to 19
years of age where overall increase was 1.89 kg/m2
from 10 to 19 years which was
statistically significant with age (F=17.3, P
Keyword :
Adolescent, Menarche, Nutritional status, Body mass index, Percent body fat.