Menarcheal age, length dimensions and body composition in a sample of

schoolgirls in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Oliveira-Júnior, Astrogildo V.1 & Casimiro-Lopes, Gustavo1,2

1Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro – Instituto de Educação Física eDesportos – Laboratório de Atividade Física e Promoção da Saúde – Brasil2 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - Instituto de Bioquímica Médica – Brasil

e-mail: avojr@uerj.br

Introduction

• Precocious menarche is commonly related withhigher risk of obesity appearance in later years(Bratberg, Nilsen, Holmen & Vatten, 2007; vanLenthe, Kemper & van Mechelen, 1996; Wang,2002), a fact still not elucidated in Brazilian girls.

• To evaluate menarcheal age, length dimensions andbody composition in a sample of schoolgirls in Rio deJaneiro.

Objective

• We evaluated 113 girls from a stratified sample of 5.643students from a traditional Federal school in Rio de Janeiro,which contains 13.000 students distributed in six school units.Total body mass was measured using an anthropometric scalewith a 0.1 g precision while the stature was measured with astadiometer with a 0.1 mm precision.

• Sum of five skinfold thickness (5ST) was obtained by Lange

caliper in subescapular, triceps, medial calf, abdominal andiliac crest skinfolds sites. Length dimensions (acromial,dactiloidal, sitting, iliac and trochanteric height) wereassessed with an anthropometer.

Methods

• Anthropometric measures were obtain according to ISAK(Norton et al., 1996). Percent of body fat, fat mass and leanbody mass were calculated according to Slaughter equation.

• Obesity was calculated using the sum of subescapular andtriceps (>85 percentile) as determine by Lohman (1986).Menarcheal age (MA) was calculated by retrospective self-report allowing us to divide girls in: Early (E, menarche <12years, n=61); Average (A, menarche 12.1 to 13.9 years, n=52),Late (L, menarche > 14 years, n=9) (McKay, Bailey, Mirwald,Davison & Faulkner, 1998).

Methods

• E group presented higher levels of 5ST when compared with Agroup (+13%, p<0.05) and L group (+26%, p<0.05). Theprevalence of obesity in all groups presented were extremelydifferent, respectively I in groups E (90%), A (42%) and L(11%).

Results

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Results

• Interestingly all the other parameters of growth andbody composition did not show any statisticaldifference between groups.

Discussion/Conclusion

• Our results suggest that subcutaneous fat is related withmenarche occurrence.

• Schoolgirls in E group presented higher levels of subcutaneousadiposity, which can pose an increased risk for diseaseoccurrence in later life.

• Additionally, it comes into view that this group of girls needbetter nutritional care and more physical activity.

References

Bratberg, G. H., Nilsen, T. I., Holmen, T. L., & Vatten, L. J. (2007). Early sexualmaturation, central adiposity and subsequent overweight in late adolescence. Afour-year follow-up of 1605 adolescent Norwegian boys and girls: the Young HUNTstudy. BMC Public Health, 7, 54.

Lohman, T. G. (1986). Applicability of body composition techniques and constants forchildren and youths. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 14, 325-357.

McKay, H. A., Bailey, D. A., Mirwald, R. L., Davison, K. S., & Faulkner, R. A. (1998). Peakbone mineral accrual and age at menarche in adolescent girls: a 6-yearlongitudinal study. Journal of Pediatrics, 133(5), 682-687.

Norton, K., Whittingham, N., Carter, L., Kerr, D. A., Gore, C., & Marfell-Jones, M.(1996). Measurement techniques in anthropometry. Anthropometrica (pp. 25-75).Sidney: University of New South Wales Press.

van Lenthe, F. J., Kemper, C. G., & van Mechelen, W. (1996). Rapid maturation inadolescence results in greater obesity in adulthood: the Amsterdam Growth andHealth Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64(1), 18-24.

Wang, Y. (2002). Is obesity associated with early sexual maturation? A comparison ofthe association in American boys versus girls. Pediatrics, 110(5), 903-910.