A new study has found an association between vitamin D deficiency and early menstruation in young girls. Early menstruation can be a risk factor for a number of health problems for teen girls as well as women later in life.
University of Michigan researchers found that girls low on vitamin D were twice as likely to start menstruation early compared to those with sufficient vitamin D.
Worldwide, researchers said they have observed a decline in age of first menstruation, a change likely brought on by environmental factors because the genetic factors have not changed.
Premature menarche is a risk factor for a number of behavioral and psychosocial problems in teens. It also may be associated with an increased of cardiometabolic diseases and cancer in adult women.
Previous research has indicated that menarche begins later in girls who live close to the equator compared to girls who live in northern countries, presumably because girls in northern countries may suffer higher rates of vitamin D deficiency.
In the study, girls who were low in vitamin D were 11 years old, on average, when they had their first period. Girls with sufficient vitamin D were, on average, 12 years old.
Though the age gap is only a year, the researchers said the difference is in fact substantial because at those ages a lot is happening rapidly in a young girls’ body.
