[Post-menarcheal growth in a cohort of Brazilian girls]

Arq Bras Endocrinol Metabol. 2005 Dec;49(6):971-7. doi: 10.1590/s0004-27302005000600018. Epub 2006 Mar 16.
[Article in Portuguese]

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to assess post-menarcheal growth in a cohort of Brazilian girls and correlate it with the age, stature and BMI at menarche. Records of the age, weight, and stature at menarche, and 5 years later, of 111 girls who attended the Adolescent Unit of the Child Institute-HC-Medical School of the University of São Paulo, were recovered. The median age at menarche was 12.67 years and the mean increase in height was 7.54 +/- 3.35 cm. The largest span of growth was observed in girls who reached menarche before 12.67 years (r= -0.46; p= 0.0001) and in the ones who had less stature at this moment (r= -0.44; p= 0.0001). The best correlation was observed in girls with stature between p25 and p75 of NCHS reference data (r= -0.72; p= 0.0001). Adolescents with greater BMI had earlier menarche (11.9 years). No correlation was found between BMI and post-menarcheal growth (r= 0). In this cohort, post-menarcheal growth was similar to other studies and correlations offer information to assess the potential of growth after menarche.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Factors
  • Body Height / physiology*
  • Body Mass Index*
  • Brazil
  • Child
  • Female
  • Growth / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Menarche / physiology*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Statistics, Nonparametric