RELATIONSHIP OF EARLY AND LATE MENARCHE WITH BODY HEIGHT AND BODY MASS INDEX IN YOUNG FEMALES

A number of endogenic and exogenic factors tend to affect the body height and body mass index (BMI) of adults. The current study aims at exploring the relationship between age at menarche with body height and BMI in young females. Material and methods: A transversal anthropometric survey was conducted in the period between 2021 and 2024 on 209 female university students between the ages of 21 and 25. The surveyed traits included body height and weight, BMI was calculated based on these values. The age at menarche was obtained by applying the retrospective method. Results: Early menarche (<12 years) was detected in 23% of women, while late menarche (>14 godina) was present in 16.7% of women. The average age at menarche was 12.78±1.19 years. The prevalence of short stature (Z-score<-1) and overweight (BMI≥25) was higher in early menarche cases in comparison to those with late menarcheal age (39.4% and 61% v.s. 0% and 2.4%, respectively). The prevalence of tall stature (Z-score>1) and underweight (BMI<18.50) was higher in women with late menarche in comparison with their early menarcheal peers (43.6% and 47.4% v.s. 2.4% and 15.8%, respectively). The odds ratio (OR) equaled 0.393 for short stature, 1.862 for tall stature, 1.789 for underweight and 0.327 for overweight (P<0.05). The categories of age at menarche significantly affected the body height (BETA=0.432) and BMI (BETA=-0.450). Conclusion: Early menarche is associated with short stature and overweight, while late menarche relates to tall stature and a higher risk of being underweight.