[Age at menarche among schoolgirls from a rural community in Southeast Brazil]

The purpose of this study was to determine the 3rd percentile (P3), 50th percentile (P50 = median age at menarche = MAM), and amplitude between the extremes (P97 and P3) of age at menarche among schoolgirls in the county of Barrinha, São Paulo, Brazil. Values were correlated with socioeconomic conditions such as social class, number of siblings, and father's employment status. This was a cross-sectional study based on the use of status quo adjusted by logit for calculation of percentiles. A questionnaire was applied to 1,602 schoolgirls aged 8 to 17 years (incomplete). MAM was 12 years (y) and 6 months (m), with a P97 of 10 y and 2 m and a P3 of 14 y and 10 m. Girls from lower-income families and those with unemployed fathers showed later MAM. No difference in MAM was observed with respect to number of siblings. Amplitude between P97 ad P3 was great in the overall sample. We conclude that Barrinha presented a MAM similar to and even lower than regional values for Brazil and for some developed countries. The study of the interval between extreme percentiles proved to be a better indicator of biological diversity and socioeconomic inequality than MAM alone.