Abstract

FACTORS AFFECTING MENARCHE AGE AMONG A SAMPLE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL FEMALES IN BAGHDAD

Suha Attia Kadhum*

Abstract

The aim of study: was to determine the effect of obesity on the age of onset of menarche and the factors affecting it in AL-Dora sector' of, Baghdad Governorate. Methodology: This is a cross sectional study with multi-stage sampling was carried out during the period from the 3rd of December 2016 to the 12 th of March 2017. In the first stage, selection of schools was done. The schools were randomly selected from the list of schools provided by the directorate of education in Baghdad secondary Al- karkh in Iraq government. One class was selected randomly from each level of education ؛the number of selected schools was 14, 11 from urban area and 3 schools from rural area. The sample consists of 1760 students, the data was collected by a special questionnaire through a direct interview, weight with height were measured for each girl, and body mass index was calculated. Results: The study showed that the mean age at menarche for adolescent secondary school girls in Al-Dora wasl2.49±0.99 years, and the mean age at menarche of girls living in the urban area were 12.4±1.0 while 12.9±1.1 year for girls living in the rural area, with a statistically significant, so the girls from urban area had earlier menarche age than girls from rural area, and earlier age at menarche of those girls who had fewer number of siblings than those who had more siblings. Also the study discovered an earlier age at menarche in the girls whose parents’ had a high educational level, occupation of mothers. Conclusions: The results reveals that the mean age at menarche of obese girls were 12.3±1.0 0 years, while the mean age at menarche of normal weight girls were 12.6±0.9years. This difference is statistically significant, a significant association is revealed between the age of menarche and mothers and sister's age of menarche, while there was no association between birth order, physical activity, occupation of father and the age at menarche. A recommendation: to further elaborated study was suggested to estimate the age of menarche of Iraqi girls. As menarche age can vary by location, it may not be possible to generalize these results to other communities in the Iraq society.

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