Age at menarche: 50-year socioeconomic trends among US-born black and white women

N. Krieger, M.V. Kiang, A. Kosheleva, P.D. Waterman, J.T. Chen and J. Beckfield

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 2, 388-397

Abstract: Objectives. We investigated 50-year US trends in age at menarche by socioeconomic position (SEP) and race/ethnicity because data are scant and contradictory. Methods. We analyzed data by income and education for US-born non- Hispanic Black and White women aged 25 to 74 years in the National Health Examination Survey (NHES) I (1959-1962), National Health Examination and Nutrition Surveys (NHANES) I-III (1971-1994), and NHANES 1999-2008. Results. In NHES I, average age at menarche among White women in the 20th (lowest) versus 80th (highest) income percentiles was 0.26 years higher (95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.09, 0.61), but by NHANES 2005-2008 it had reversed and was -0.33 years lower (95% CI = -0.54, -0.11); no socioeconomic gradients occurred among Black women. The proportion with onset at younger than 11 years increased only among women with low SEP, among Blacks and Whites (P for trend

Keywords: adult; African American; age; aged; Caucasian; educational status; epidemiology; female; human; income; menarche; middle aged; nutrition; socioeconomics; statistics and numerical data; United States, Adult; African Americans; Age Factors; Aged; Educational Status; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Humans; Income; Menarche; Middle Aged; Nutrition Surveys; Socioeconomic Factors; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.301936_6

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301936

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