Young girls are starting their first periods earlier than they have in previous decades-a shift associated with adverse health outcomes later in life.
Researchers observed an increase in the number of women experiencing irregular menstrual cycles for three years or more after menarche.
The authors noted that obesity is a risk factor for early-onset puberty and that childhood obesity is on the rise in the United States, which could explain the trend toward earlier menarche.
Early Periods May Cause Health Problems A growing body of evidence, including the current study, links early menarche and a longer time to regularity with an increased risk of health conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, asthma, multiple sclerosis, metabolic conditions, and all-cause mortality.
A 2021 study published in the Annals of Epidemiology found that earlier menarche in girls and a longer time to reach menstrual regularity were associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis of 28 studies in PLOS Medicine found that girls who experience earlier menarche have an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in adulthood.
In a meta-analysis of eight prospective studies involving 4,553 subjects with endometrial cancer, researchers found that an earlier age of menarche is associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer.
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