In North, Central and South India, a majority of women had attained menarche at the age of 14 years
A first of its kind study that looked at the age at which Indian girls have their first menstrual period – menarche – has found that the mean age at which Indian girls attain sexual maturity is 13.5 years.
However there are significant regional variations in the age at which most girls attain maturity. The study also found that the age of menarche has been declining over the six decades of which they had analysed data.
“In regions like the North (35.1%), Central (36.9%) and South (31.1%), a majority of women had attained menarche at the age of 14 years. On the other hand, in the Eastern (44.4%) and Western (36.4%) parts of the country, the maximum number of women reported experiencing menarche at the age of 13 years. However, in the Northeastern region, nearly 36.1% of women reached menarche at an early age of 12 years,” the researchers wrote in Nature Scientific Reports. An earlier study had reported that the lowest mean age at menarche in the Northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
The researchers also looked at socioeconomic indicators as these have a bearing on the availability of nutrition and hence the development of the human body from adolescence to adulthood.
“Interestingly, compared to their counterparts, women from economically sound families had a much lower mean age at menarche. Several studies have demonstrated that socioeconomic factors have an impact on the menarcheal onset, with girls growing up in more deprived situations experiencing later menarche as they are unable to get the nutrients they need for proper growth and development in order to attain menarche. Moreover, in the current study, a relatively later age at menarche was reported among women residing in rural areas as compared to urban dwellers.” they wrote.
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