Age of Onset of Puberty in Apparently Healthy School Girls from Northern India

To determine the age of pubertal onset and menarche in school-going girls, and to assess the impact of obesity on pubertal timing. Cross-sectional Seven schools across Delhi, India. 2010 school girls, aged 6-17 years Anthropometric measurement and pubertal staging was performed for all subjects. Menarche was recorded by ‘status quo’ method. Body mass index was used to define overweight/obesity. Serum gonadotropins and serum estradiol were measured in every sixth participant. Age at thelarche and menarche—analyzed for entire cohort and stratified based on body mass index. Median (95% CI) ages of thelarche, pubarche and menarche were 10.8 (10.7-10.9) y, 11.0. y (10.8-11.2) y and 12.4 y (12.2-12.5) y. Overweight/obese girls showed six months earlier onset of thelarche and menarche than those with normal BMI (P