Correlation Of Body Mass Index Levels With Age At Menarche In Women In, Selected Rural Areas Of Nellore: A Cross Sectional Study

Research Article
Arumugam Indira and Katari Kantha
DOI: 
xxx-xxxxx-xxxx
Subject: 
science
KeyWords: 
Women, Body mass index, Menarche, Nellore.
Abstract: 

Background: Menarche is a milestone for adolescent girls. The timing of menarche is influenced by genetics, social status and nutritional status (e.g., height, weight and body mass index [BMI]) and impacts future health (e.g., obesity and breast cancer). Studies with adult woman have shown that prevalence of obesity is highest in those women who had experienced an early menarche in their adolescence. Objective: The objective was to assess the Correlation of body mass index levels with Menarche among women. Methods: The participants in this cross sectional study came from five rural areas of Nellore. A total of 220 women were randomly selected. Trained investigators administered a standard questionnaire to each participant during a face-to-face interview and carried out anthropometric measurements. Results: The results shows that, out of 294 women attained menarche at age, 28 (09.5%) attained at less than 10 years, 135(45.91%) attained at 11-13 years, 131(44.55%) attained at 14-16 years. Regarding BMI the women falls under underweight are 28 (9.52%), 106 (36.05%) are having normal BMI, and 160 (54.42%) are overweight. The correlation coefficient value is 0.9 which states that there is a positive correlation between age at menarche and BMI classification. Conclusion: BMI is associated with the timing of menarche but socioeconomic factors are also important.