• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.153-158
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• 1976

It is clearly defined through a number of authoritative studies that the age of menarche influenced by the various combined factocs such as nutrition status, physical status, physical growth and development status, socio-economic status, locality, culture, education level, climate, race heredity etc. In order to obtain statistical data regarding the menarche of Korean school girls, anthers investigated on 4207 middle school girls and 703 woman college students in Seoul and Teagu during the period of September 10 to 30, 1973 and the result are summarized as followings; 1. The rates of menses experience by years were 18.2% in the age group of 12 years girls, 31.9% in 13 years, 64.6% in 14 years, 89.8% in 15 years, 98.1% in 16 years respectvely. 2. The average age of menarche for the 2504 school girls who were born during the yrar of 1957-1961 is 13.4 years with the rang of 9 years to 16 years. And the most frequent age of menarche is 13 years. 3. The average age of menarche for the 703 woman college students who were born during the year of 1950-1954 is 14.3 years with the rang of 9 years to 18 years. And the most frequent age if menarche is 13 years. 4. The appearence of menarche is most common in August (20.7%) for the group who were born during the year of 1957-1961 and most rear in November (4.2%). And it is also most common in August (19.9%) for the group who were born puring the year of 1950-1954 but most rear in June (3.4%).

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2012

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the mean age of menarche, its secular trend in Korean women, and the relationship between malocclusion and the rate of skeletal maturation, as defined by menarcheal age. Methods: We retrospectively collected data on menarcheal age from 931 Korean women born during 1961 - 1997. Subjects were divided by the malocclusion type and birth-year decade into 3 and 4 groups, respectively. The mean menarcheal age for each group was determined, and one-way ANOVA was performed for intergroup comparison (p = 0.05). Two-way ANOVA was also performed to compare all the 12 subgroups (p = 0.05). Results: The mean age of menarche was 12.82 years for Korean women born during 1961 - 1997. A distinct downward secular trend of menarcheal age was noticed (p < 0.05). For the birth-year decade 1961 - 1970, the Class III malocclusion group showed earlier onset of menarche than the other malocclusion groups (p < 0.05), but the other birth-year groups did not show any significant difference in the type of malocclusion (p > 0.05). Conclusions: A positive secular trend towards earlier menarche exists among Korean women. Malocclusion does not show any significant relationship with the rate of skeletal maturation, as defined by menarcheal age.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.106-113
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to compare the growth development between age-matched 51 postmenarcheal girls (mean age 153.1$\pm$5.8 month) who were rapidly maturing and 51 premenarcheal girls (mean age 153.1$\pm$5.7 month) who were slowly maturing. Anthropometirc measurements were taken for height, body weight, body fat(%), waist and hip circumferences of subjects. These measurements of menarcheal girls were significantly higher than those of nonmenarcheal girls. There was no significant difference in BMI distribution between two groups. However, 43.2% and 20.0% respectively in the menarcheal and nonmenarcheal girls had body fat levels of 30% or above. There were significant differences in the anthropometric measurements during past 4 years from 3rd grade elementary school to present. The greatest difference between the two groups were the amount and the rate of increased height and body weight from age 9 to 10. Among menarcheal girls, height, body weight, BMI, and Röhrer index were positively related to the onset of menarche. Distinctively, there was a stronger relationship between age at menarche and anthropometric measurements when the girls were 5th grade elementary school children. These findings support that during childhood and puberty, obese girls grow faster and have earlier menarche. Furthermore, the importance of prevention of obesity was recognized in order to accelerate growth of height among the girls by delaying the age of menarche.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.98-106
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• 2020

Purpose: This study utilized data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) to explore differences in the timing of menarche in Korean girls according to blood heavy metal concentrations. Methods: This study performed a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the sixth KNHANES. Data from 179 female children and adolescents aged 10~18 were included in this study. The relationships of blood heavy metal concentrations (lead, mercury, and cadmium) with age of menarche were analyzed using complex sample multiple logistic regression. Results: In the participants of this study, the geometric mean values of blood lead, mercury, and cadmium concentrations were 1.15±0.04 ㎍/dL, 1.80±0.08 ㎍/L, and 0.30±0.03 ㎍/L, respectively. Mercury poisoning (>5 ㎍/L) was found in 1.5% of participants. Furthermore, significant relationships were found between blood lead and mercury concentrations and age at menarche (p for trend: p<.001 and p=.015, respectively). Conclusion: Through an analysis of national big data, this study found evidence that Korean girls showed a younger age at menarche in response to higher blood lead and mercury concentrations. To prevent and manage precocious puberty in Korean children and adolescents, a systematic policy that monitors both exposure to environmental hazards and blood heavy metal concentrations is needed.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.31-38
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• 2017

Objectives The purpose of this study was to find out the clinically reliable relationships between the Risser sign and chronological age, bone age, menarche, and adult height prediction (AHP) and to evidence the reliability of the Risser sign. Methods This study had been carried out with 50 children who had their growth checked in an oriental medical hospital from January 2015 to February 2017. We investigated Risser sign in AP X-rays with iliac crest, bone age, AHP for all 50 children and the timing of menarche from the 22 girls in the study subjects. We also investigated a correlation between the Risser stage and the other indicators to analyze statistical data. Results The mean chronological ages of Risser 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 11.2, 12.6, 14.4, and 15.5 years respectively for the boys and 10.8, 12.2, 13.8 and 14.8 years respectively for the girls. The mean bone ages of Risser 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 12.3, 13.6, 15.7 and 16.5 years respectively for the boys and 11.7, 13.8, 14.3 and 14.9 years respectively for the girls. We analyzed 22 girls' Risser stages in accordance with the duration from menarche. The result showed that in the first six months after menarche, all girls were in Risser 1 and 2; in the next six months, the girls were in Risser 2 on average; in the next 12 months, all girls were in Risser 3 and 4; after more than two years from menarche, all girls were in Risser 4. The mean remaining growth height of Risser 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 27.8, 17.3, 4.4 and 1.0 cm respectively for the boys and 14.5, 5.1, 3.1 and 1.1 cm respectively for the girls. The Risser stage was correlated strongly with chronological age (Spearman's rho=0.707 (boy), 0.841 (girl)), bone age (Spearman's rho=0.869 (boy), 0.875 (girl)), duration from menarche (Spearman's rho=0.909) and remaining growth height (Spearman's rho=-0.784 (boy), -0.878 (girl)). Conclusions This study showed that the Risser sign can be useful in assessing skeletal maturity and predicting remaining growth height based on the Risser stage and the other growth indicators.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.319-327
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• 2016

The objective of this study is to identify the secular trend in age at menarche and to investigate the factors influence the early menarche(<12 years old) among Korean middle and high school girls. We analyzed data from the Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey(KYRBWS) 2006-2014. This study was a descriptive study of 216,917 Korean middle and high school girls born between 1988 and 2002. Linear trends test performed to assess the trend age at menarche and percentage of early menarche. Multiple logistic regression analysis was to assess the risk factors influence the early menarche. Mean age at menarche decreased from $12.61{\pm}1.32$ years for middle and high school girls born 1988 to $11.88{\pm}0.75$ years for those born 2002(p for trends<.001). Percentage of early menarche increased from 19.7% to 25.2% between 1988 and 2002(p for trends<.001). Living in city, higher stress level, short sleep duration, and higher body mass index were associated with an early menarche among middle and high school girls(all p<.001). We found that age at menarche is still falling in the Korean adolescents, and it need intervention strategies to control the early menarche.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1279-1284
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• 1998

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of physiological and behavioral factors on the bone density of 125 middle aged women who visited Saint Bundo Hospital. 16.1% of subjects had osteoporosis and 40.3% had osteopenia according to the measurement of the bone density of lumbar spine. Mean age was 56.9 in osteoporosis group and 53.7 in osteopenia group. It was significantly different from the mean age of control group, 50.7. The mean bone density of the women who had menarche after 15 years old was significantly lower than that of the women who had menarche before 15. But the age of menopause, the total year of menstruation, irregularity of the menstrual cycle and percentage of subjects who had ovariectomy were not significantly different among osteoporosis, osteopenia and control group. The use of medication such as oral contraceptive, steroid, depressant, diuretic, and Ca supplement and the preference of salty food were not significantly different among three groups. The percentage of subjects who had rheumatism, gastric ulcer, and pain in neck or shoulder was higher in osteoporosis and osteopenia group than in control group. This study shows that the age and the age of menarche affect the bone density, and that behavioral factors were not sig nificantly different in osteoporosis and osteopenia group compared to the control group. Further researches are needed to find out the effective way to minimize the effect of age and other physiological conditions on the decrease of bone density.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.9
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• pp.355-361
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• 2016

The menarcheal age of Korean women has been rapidly decreasing for the last 50 years, and the average menarcheal age of women born in the 1990s is approaching 12.6 years. In addition, interest in early puberty has been increasing recently owing to the rapid increase in precocious puberty. Generally, out of concern for short stature and early menarche, idiopathic central precocious puberty in female adolescents is treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs. Studies to date have described the association between early menarche and psychosocial problems such as delinquency and risky sexual behavior, as well as physical health problems such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and breast cancer throughout the lifespan of women. However, the pathophysiological mechanism underlying this association has not been clarified thus far. In this article, we review and discuss the existing literature to describe the current understanding of the effects of early menarche on the physical and psychosocial health of adolescent girls and adult women.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.344-351
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• 2015

Purpose: During the recent decades, the age at menarche continued to decline in Korea and worldwide. Prior studies have suggested that early menarche may increase the risk of various social, psychological, and physical health problems in young adolescent girls, but little is known about the determinants associated with early menarche. The purpose of this study is to evaluate independent determinants of early menarche among 5th~6th female graders in South Korea. Methods: Our analysis was conducted in 95 menarcheal girls and 95 age-matched pre-menarcheal girls residing in Daegu, South Korea. Demographic and lifestyle characteristics were collected using survey questionnaires for children and parents. Dietary information was assessed by 2 day~24 hour food records and survey questionnaires, which were completed by both children and their parents. Anthropometric data were obtained from the student health check-ups at the school. Results: A multiple logistic regression analysis using a conditional likelihood method was performed for simultaneous evaluation of several risk factors. There were significant differences in that higher proportion of obesity (OR, odds ratio = 5.60, 95% CI, confidence interval = 1.34~23.42), shorter sleep duration (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23~0.87), and younger mother's age at menarche (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.44~0.93) were observed in the menarcheal group compared to the pre-menarcheal group. Conclusion: These findings indicate a possible association of sleep duration, mother's menarcheal age, and obesity with age at menarche. A well-planned, prospective cohort study is warranted to examine causal relationship.

• CELLMED
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.18.1-18.4
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• 2015

Dysmenorrhea is the most common gynecological disorder in women of reproductive age. The prevalence of menstrual pain is relatively high and has been shown to be related to many factors like age, age at menarche, menstrual cycle regularity, parity, cigarette smoking, and dietary habits etc. This study was conducted to determine the possible link between dysmenorrhea and the factors related to it. We investigated the associated risk factors that could influence menstrual pain. This Cross Sectional Study was conducted at Dept. of OBG, NIUM, Bangalore. The study consisted of 230 women between the ages of 20 - 49 years. Included volunteers were newly married, nulliparious and parous women. The detailed reproductive history was recorded and was analyzed statistically. It was observed that there were only two factors that were influencing Dysmenorrhea namely the early age at menarche and increase parity. It was hypothesis that earlier start to reproductive life in some way decreases the sensitivity of the uterus to prostaglandin, whereas delayed menarche and postponing reproductive life increase sensitivity of the uterus to prostaglandins and cause severe menstrual pain. It is concluded that early age at menarche and high parity decrease menstrual pain.