Time trends in age at menarche and related non-communicable disease risk during the 20th century in Mexico

Inga Petersohn, Arli G. Zarate-Ortiz, Ana C. Cepeda-Lopez, Alida Melse-Boonstra*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    21 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Developed countries have shown a time trend towards a younger age at menarche (AAM), which is associated with increased risk of later obesity and non-communicable diseases. This study aimed to assess whether a time trend in AAM is associated with disease risk in Mexican women (n = 30,826), using data from the Mexican National Health Survey (2000). Linear and log binomial regression was used for nutritional and disease outcomes, while Welch–ANOVA was used to test for a time trend. AAM (in years) decreased over time (p < 0.001), with a maximal difference of 0.99 years between the 1920s (13.6 years) and 1980s (12.6 years). AAM was negatively associated with weight (β = −1.01 kg; 95% CI −1.006, −1.004) and body mass index (BMI) (β = −1.01 kg/m 2 ; −1.007, −1.006), and positively with height (β = 0.18 cm; 0.112, 0.231). AAM was associated with diabetes (RR = 0.95; 0.93, 0.98) and hypercholesterolemia (RR = 0.93; 0.90, 0.95), but not with hypertension, breast cancer or arthritis. In Mexico, AAM decreased significantly during the 20th century. AAM was inversely associated with adult weight and BMI, and positively with height. Women with a later AAM had a lower risk of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number394
    JournalNutrients
    Volume11
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2019

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

    All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

    • Food Science
    • Nutrition and Dietetics

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