Relationship of physical performance to maturation in perimenarchal girls

The relationship of physical performance to maturation, characterized by the onset of menarche, was examined annually from 1989 to 1992 among 61 healthy, active perimenarchal girls from 10 to 14 years. Within each age group, differences in selected physical performance variables between and among three maturity groups, early, average, and late, were compared. Subjects categorized as having early or late maturation were those whose age at menarche was minus or plus, respectively, one standard deviation from the mean age at menarche 12.70 + 0.99 yr (range 10.29-14.65). Subjects demonstrated steady progression with age in breast and pubic hair development. Weight, estimated lean body weight and fat weights, and stature increased significantly with age and maturation. With the exceptions of flexibility, bent arm hang, standing vertical jump, and relative maximum oxygen uptake, the performance measures of running speed, functional strength, explosive strength, static strength, upper body power, and aerobic power improved significantly with age and maturation. Generally more mature subjects tended to perform significantly better than the less mature, but there are fewer significant performance differences between and among maturation groups within specific age groups. Therefore, whereas more mature 10- and 14-year-old females may, within the same age group, have only a very slight advantage in some physical performance abilities over their less mature age mates, more mature females aged 11, 12, and 13 years have a greater physical performance advantage. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 9:163-171, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.