All issues > Volume 36(2); 1993

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1993;36(2):239-243. Published online February 15, 1993.

The Secular Trend of Menarcheal Age in Korea

Chang-Ho CH Hong¹, Hyung Rae HR Cho¹, Kye Suk KS Park²

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

The age of puberty represents a very critical time in the life history of every young woman. The menarche stands as primary indicator of the onset of sexual maturation in females. According to 13.5 years of age in 1980s. This findings show a pronounced secular trend to earlier maturation. The purpose of this study is to determine (1)the average age at menarche in Korea in present time, (2)the secular trend of menarcheal ae, and (3)the geographic regional influence on menarche. The University who entered from 1983 to 1991. The data which was obtained from the number of 7761 was analysed by dBase III plus and SAS program. The results are as follows: 1) The mean menarcheal age of the subjects was 13.7¡¾1.2 years. 2) Age at menarche has been getting earlier by some 7.4 months during the period of recent 11 years. 3) Comparing to the decreasing secular trend of menarcheal age, the height and weight showed increasing trend. 4) There were significant differences in menarcheal age, height, weight among geographic regions. We conclude that the results indicate an accelerating secular trend in age of menarche in Korea.

Keywords :Secular trend, Menarche