Identifying menarcheal age and its association with body mass index in young Saudi females

OBJECTIVES: To explore the relationship of menarcheal age with body mass index (BMI), to find mean menarcheal age in Saudi population and compare it with global data, and to create awareness in health science students on harmful effects of obesity. METHODS: A cross-sectional study carried out between February 2015 and February 2016 on 744 health sciences students of Immam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia aged 18-21 years. Weight and height was measured, and subjects were categorized into 2 groups on the basis of BMI: normal and underweight (BMI ≤24.9), and over weight and obese (BMI ≥25). The data analyzed was preformed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: Mean menarcheal age of subjects was 13.1 years. Early menarche was observed in 35.6% of the students. Of the 21.7% overweight/obese group, 45.6% reported early menarche. The early menarcheal group had significantly higher BMI compared to late menarcheal group (p=0.021). Significant negative correlation was found between BMI and menarcheal age (p=0.0006). CONCLUSION: The present study indicates a downward secular trend in the menarcheal age of the Saudi population. Moreover, a negative correlation between BMI and menarcheal age was also documented.