Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Home
Hostname: page-component-ffbbcc459-l9rg9 Total loading time: 0.234 Render date: 2022-03-10T02:41:23.277Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, "shouldUseHypothesis": true, "isUnsiloEnabled": true, "useRatesEcommerce": false, "useNewApi": true }
  • English
Journal of Biosocial Science Journal of Biosocial Science

Article contents

SECULAR TREND IN AGE AT MENARCHE IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY OF TWO RURAL COUNTIES IN ANHUI PROVINCE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 1999

MAUREEN J. GRAHAM ,
ULLA LARSEN  and
XIPING XU
MAUREEN J. GRAHAM
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
ULLA LARSEN
Affiliation:
Department of Population & International Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
XIPING XU
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that age at menarche has decreased in Europe and the United States during the last century and in Japan over the last several decades. Data from a community-based survey conducted in two rural counties of Anhui Province in China indicate a similar, downward secular trend in age at menarche for Chinese women. The present study shows the mean age at menarche decreased by 2·8 years, from 16·5 to 13·7, over an approximate 40-year time interval. This rapid decrease in age at menarche may partly be due to better nutrition and living standards reflected by the improved socioeconomic standards experienced in China over the past few decades. To test this hypothesis, a number of determinants of age at menarche were assessed; year of birth, literacy status, county of residence, amount of physical labour, general health status, pesticide exposure before age at menarche, and drinking water source were all found to be associated with age at menarche.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 257 - 267
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)
52
Cited by

Send article to Kindle

To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about sending to your Kindle.

Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

SECULAR TREND IN AGE AT MENARCHE IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY OF TWO RURAL COUNTIES IN ANHUI PROVINCE
Available formats
×

Send article to Dropbox

To send this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Dropbox.

SECULAR TREND IN AGE AT MENARCHE IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY OF TWO RURAL COUNTIES IN ANHUI PROVINCE
Available formats
×

Send article to Google Drive

To send this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Google Drive.

SECULAR TREND IN AGE AT MENARCHE IN CHINA: A CASE STUDY OF TWO RURAL COUNTIES IN ANHUI PROVINCE
Available formats
×
×

Reply to: Submit a response

Please enter your response.

Your details

Please enter a valid email address.

Conflicting interests

Do you have any conflicting interests? *