Influence of carbohydrate and fiber intakes on age at menarche in Chinese girls / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To explore the relationship between premenarchal dietary carbohydrate and dietary fiber intakes and age at menarche in Chinese girls.@*Methods@#Based on dietary and menarcheal information on 750 girls from the Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey, multivariate linear regression models and logistic models were used to analyze the influence of dietary carbohydrate and dietary fiber intakes before menarche onset and age at menarche. Carbohydrate intake was replaced by engergg ratio carbohydrate for a sensitivity analysis.@*Results@#Adjusting for residence, per capita household income, body mass index standard deviation score, and energy intake, higher intake and higher energy ratio of carbohydrate were associated with later age at menarche(P<0.01). Compared to girls at the lowest tertile of carbohydrate intake level, those at the highest tertile had a 0.35 years(2.8%) delay in age at menarche, while 55% decreased[OR(95%CI)=0.45(0.30-0.69)]. Dietary fiber intake was not associated with age at menarche in any model(P>0.2).@*Conclusion@#Girls with higher premenarcheal carbohydrate intake experienced menarche later, while dietary fiber intake was not associated with age at menarche.