The status of spermarche, menarche and corresponding relationships with nutritional status among students of 13 ethnic minorities in Southwest China in 2014 / 中华预防医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To describe the current situation of spermarche/menarche of 13 ethnic minority groups in China in 2014, and analyze the association between spermarche/menarche and nutritional status among ethnic minority groups.@*Methods@#The sample of 13 ethnic minorities (Bai, Hani, Dai, Lisu, Wa, Naxi, Miao, Shui, Buyi, Dong, Zhuang, Yao and Qiang) from Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region were selected from Chinese National Survey on Students′ Constitution and Healthy of 2014. A total of 25 964 students with completed records of height, weight, spermarche and menarche were selected, including 11 276 boys aged 11-18 years old and 14 688 girls aged 9-18 years old. Probit analysis was used to calculate the median age at spermarche or menarche. All subjects were classification into four nutritional status groups (normal, malnutrition, overweight and obesity) according to the Screening standard for malnutrition of school-age children and adolescents (WS/T 456-2014) and the Screening for overweight and obesity among school-age children and adolescent (WS/T 586-2018) of China. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the association between spermarche, menarche and nutritional status.@*Results@#The median age at spermarche (95%CI) of 13 ethnic minorities were ranged from 13.4 (13.1, 13.7) years old to 15.3 (15.1, 15.5) years old. In the 11 -year age group, all ethnic girls experienced menarche. The median age at menarche (95%CI) of 13 ethnic minorities were ranged from 12.1 (11.4, 12.7) years old to13.6 (13.4, 13.7) years old. Logistics regression analysis showed that students with malnutrition experienced spermarche or menarche later than normal weight students, the OR (95%CI) for boys about 0.49 (0.42, 0.56) and girls about 0.15 (0.12, 0.19), while overweight and obese students entered puberty at earlier age, the OR (95%CI) for boys about 1.37(1.10, 1.72) and girls about 3.21(2.51, 4.12).@*Conclusion@#Boys from 13 ethnic minorities began to have spermatorrhea at the age of 13, and girls from 13 ethnic minorities began menstruating at the age of 9 in 2014. Nutrition status was closely related to spermarche and menarche.