Age at menarche of schoolgirls in Khartoum

Data on age at menarche have been collected among 1372 Sudanese girls attending state schools within the capital, Khartoum, and representing three different socioeconomic groups. The mean ages, estimated by probits, were 13.35 +/- 0.14 for the well-off girls; 13.85 +/- 0.15 for the middle class and 14.06 +/- 0.18 years for the poor girls. The results were compared with data reported from other African and other Arabic-speaking countries. Well-off Sudanese girls in Khartoum have one of the earliest recorded means of all African populations studied. It seems likely that with improvement of health care and family planning, Sudanese girls would be at least as early-maturing as girls in Northern and Central Europe.