ABSTRACT
Over the past 50 years, the average age of onset of menarche has significantly declined and found to be a risk factor for breast cancer
Objectives: The research objective is to assess the effect of socioeconomic status, BMI, physical activity and stress on the age of menarche of school girls of urban and peri-urban communities in Lahore
Methods: This cross-sectional study estimated the age at menarche and investigated its relationship with socioeconomic status, BMI, physical activity and stress. It was carried out in 2 schools of peri-urban and urban communities of Lahore, selected through convenience sampling. The data was collected from adolescent girls [aged 13-17 years] from grades 9 and 10 through self-constructed questionnaire. All 199 adolescent girls experiencing menstruation were enrolled in the study
Results: The estimated average age at menarche was 12.66 +/- 1.12 years collectively and 12.92il.21 and 12.37 +/- 1.59 in girls of peri-urban and urban schools respectively. Mean age of menarche was not significantly different in categories of BMI, levels of physical activity and stress but showed statistically significant difference in categories of socio-economic status
Conclusion: It was concluded that mean age of menarche is influenced by socio-economic status