Study on the correlation between nutritional status, body fat and the onset of menarche among Han female students in Guangdong Province

Objective To investigate the relationship among nutritional status,body fat and the onset of menarche among pubertal females in Guangdong Province,and to provide scientific basis for making policies and interventions of improving their sexual health.Methods Stratified multistage cluster sampling method was used to select 4 782 female students aged 9-16 from Guangzhou,Zhanjiang and Shaoguan,and questionnaires and physician examination were offered to them to determine whether they experienced the onset of menarche or not and assess their nutritional status.Results It was found that among the respondents aged 9 -16 years,63% pubertal females in urban and 59% in rural area had experienced the onset of menarche.8.8% and 12.6% pubertal females were diagnosed as malnutrition in urban and rural areas,respectively while 11.5% and 7.2% were overnutrition,respectively.After the relevant factors were controlled,logistic regression indicated that compared to nutritionally-normal females,malnourished female were less likely to experience menarche(OR=0.32,P<0.05),while sleeping time is positively correlated to the onset of menarche(OR=0.77,P<0.05).Moreover,the more subcutaneous fat cumulates,the more likely menarche would occur(OR =1.03,P<0.05).Conclusion Nutritional status and skinfold thickness are found to correlate positively with the onset of menarche among the pubertal female students.Therefore,the targeted interventional measures should be made to enhance their healthy sexual development.