RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Height and Weight at Menarche and a Hypothesis of Critical Body Weights and Adolescent Events
JF Science
JO Science
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP 397
OP 399
DO 10.1126/science.169.3943.397
VO 169
IS 3943
A1 Frisch, Rose E.
A1 Revelle, Roger
YR 1970
UL http://science.sciencemag.org/content/169/3943/397.abstract
AB 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.