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Age of onset of puberty in apparently healthy school girls from northern India

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Abstract

Objective

To determine the age of pubertal onset and menarche in school-going girls, and to assess the impact of obesity on pubertal timing.

Design

Cross-sectional

Setting

Seven schools across Delhi, India.

Participants

2010 school girls, aged 6-17 years

Methods

Anthropometric measurement and pubertal staging was performed for all subjects. Menarche was recorded by ‘status quo’ method. Body mass index was used to define overweight/obesity. Serum gonadotropins and serum estradiol were measured in every sixth participant.

Main outcome measure

Age at thelarche and menarche—analyzed for entire cohort and stratified based on body mass index.

Results

Median (95% CI) ages of thelarche, pubarche and menarche were 10.8 (10.7-10.9) y, 11.0. y (10.8-11.2) y and 12.4 y (12.2-12.5) y. Overweight/obese girls showed six months earlier onset of thelarche and menarche than those with normal BMI (P<0.05). Serum gonadotropins did not vary significantly in overweight/obese subjects.

Conclusion

The study provides the normative data for pubertal growth in Indian girls. Pubertal onset occurs earlier in overweight and obese girls.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. From Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Hospital and Research Centre, and International Life Sciences Institute, New Delhi, India

    Rajesh Khadgawat, R.K. Marwaha, Vineet Surana, Aashima Dabas, M. Ashraf Gaine & Nandita Gupta

  2. From Department of Biostatistics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Hospital and Research Centre, and International Life Sciences Institute, New Delhi, India

    V. Sreenivas

  3. Sur Homeopathic Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, and International Life Sciences Institute, New Delhi, India

    Neena Mehan

Authors
  1. Rajesh Khadgawat
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  2. R.K. Marwaha
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  3. Neena Mehan
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  4. Vineet Surana
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  5. Aashima Dabas
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  6. V. Sreenivas
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  7. M. Ashraf Gaine
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  8. Nandita Gupta
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R.K. Marwaha.

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Khadgawat, R., Marwaha, R., Mehan, N. et al. Age of onset of puberty in apparently healthy school girls from northern India. Indian Pediatr 53, 383–387 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-016-0857-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-016-0857-5

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