Authors
- Akram Rahimi 1
- MehrAli Rahimi 2
- Abdolreza Norouzy 3
- Habibollah Esmaily 4
- Peyman Eshraghi 5
- Seyed Amir Reza Mohajeri 6
- Mohsen Nematy 3
1 MSc, Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
2 MD, Endocrinologist, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
3 Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
4 PhD, Health Sciences Research Center, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
5 MD, Pediatric Endocrinologist, Pediatric Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
6 School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Science, Mashhad, Iran.
Abstract
Background: The average age at menarche (AAM) has declined around the world, which is widely attributed to improvements in nutrition. This study was conducted to investigate the association between dietary patterns and early menarche ( Materials and Methods: This case-control study was carried out on 400 elementary school girls (200 early menarche and 200 premenarche) who were aged 12 years old and over, in Kermanshah, Iran, 2015. The participants were selected by cluster sampling from three areas of Kermanshah city. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated, and information on dietary intake was investigated by using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire, which consists of 160 items and were filled by students’ parents. Logistic regression was performed to find a relationship between dietary patterns and risk of early menarche.
Results: The means age for the case and control groups (n=200, n=200) were 12.06±0.1 5 years and 12.0 6±0. 10 years, respectively. Four major dietary patterns of meat, western, vegetarian, and traditional were identified. After adjusting for the confounding factors, vegetarian (OR: 0.01; 95%CI: 0.003-0.02; P<0.001), and traditional (OR: 0.13; 95%CI: 0.06-0.26; P<0.001), dietary patterns were found to be negatively associated with early menarche whereas the highest tertile of meat dietary pattern (OR:1.21; 95%CI: 0.64-2.29; P<0.009), and BMI (OR: 3.36; 95%CI: 1.72-6.54) were positively associated with early menarche. Western diet showed no relationship with early age at menarche (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Based on the results, dietary patterns and body size were found to be related to early menarche among elementary school girls.
Keywords
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