Menarche in Newcastle upon Tyne girls

Age at menarche was recorded for 699 white Newcastle upon Tyne girls taking part in a longitudinal study of growth and development during puberty. Girls from large (5+) families started menstruation about five months later than girls from small families. This effect was observed only among girls with fathers in manual occupations. The occurrence of menarche had a peak in January and a possible secondary peak about August. Height and to some extent weight increased with the age at menarche, while arm circumference and skinfolds tended to decrease. The correlation of age at menarche with weight at given height was -0.13 and that of age at menarche with height at given weight was 0.38. The correlation of age at menarche with skinfolds and arm circumference for given weight were of the order of -0.3 and for given height of the order of -0.2. The time lapse between the age at peak height velocity (PHV) and the age at menarche decreased with increasing subscapular skinfold at PHV.