Height and weight at menarche and a hypothesis of critical body weights and adolescent events

RE Frisch, R Revelle - Science, 1970 - science.org
RE Frisch, R Revelle
Science, 1970science.org
Height and weight at menarche were found for each subject in three longitudinal growth
studies. Early and late maturing girls have menarche at the same mean weight, but late
maturers are taller at menarche. Two other major events of adolescence, initiation of the
weight growth spurt and maximum rate of weight gain, also occur at an invariant mean
weight. The hypothesis is proposed that a critical body weight may trigger each of these
adolescent events. Such an interaction would explain the secular trend to an earlier …
Height and weight at menarche were found for each subject in three longitudinal growth studies. Early and late maturing girls have menarche at the same mean weight, but late maturers are taller at menarche. Two other major events of adolescence, initiation of the weight growth spurt and maximum rate of weight gain, also occur at an invariant mean weight. The hypothesis is proposed that a critical body weight may trigger each of these adolescent events. Such an interaction would explain the secular trend to an earlier menarche.
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