Dietary habits and menarche among young female medical students

Abstract

Background: Menstrual cycle is a physiological change that occurs in female subjects. The first menstruation of women is called menarche. The developmental status of a pubertal female can be assessed using this vital maturity indicator. The age of menarche is determined by number of factors such as general health, genetic factors, and socioeconomic and nutritional statuses. Aims and Objective: To find out the role of different dietary habit of vegetarian, eggetarian, and nonvegetarian on age at menarche and academic performance among young girls. Materials and Methods: The data were collected through personal interview technique using the especially structured questionnaire. The general profile, dietary habits, and menarcheal profile of the subjects were collected. The height and weight of the subjects were measured by standardized methods. The body mass index of the subjects were calculated and categorized accordingly. The academic performance of the girls was measured using the percentage marks obtained by the end of the academic year. Result: The nonvegetarian girls revealed early menarche and prolonged menstrual cycle and menses when compared with vegetarian and eggetarians counterparts, and they were more prone to overweight and obese. However, in academic performance nonvegetarian showed better performance than vegetarian and eggetarians. Conclusion: Our observation concludes that nonvegetarians was more prone to overweight and obese, early menarche, prolonged menstrual cycle and duration of menses, but better in academic performance than eggetarians and vegetarians, this change of normal menstrual pattern of young women may affect their well-being. Health education is needed about menstrual pattern. We recommend proper advice on diet and exercise, which will improve health, sense of well-being, and overall quality of life of the students.

Plant-Based Diet during the Prepubertal Period and Age at Menarche: A Systematic Review

“…However, this study had limitations because the subjects were only in a small group. Studies in larger populations are needed to confirm these findings (Choudhary et al 2015).…”

“…This systematic search found two articles that studied the effect of a vegetarian diet on the age at menarche. Choudhary et al (2015) conducted a cross-sectional study in India on 100 female students (45 vegetarians, 25 ovovegetarians, and 30 non-vegetarians) aged 19-25 years to discover the role of different dietary habits on age at menarche. This study found that there was no significant relationship between vegetarian and ovo-vegetarian dietary habits and the age at menarche, while the non-vegetarian group tended to have early menarche.…”

A Comparative Analysis of Dietary Habits on Sensory Motor Association and Heart Rate Variability during Menstrual Cycle

“…In a previous study, we observed that non-vegeterian people are more prone to obesity (higher BMI) which may lead to early menarche and prolongation of menstrual cycle length [8]. In the present study we tried to evaluate nutritional habits that may influence sensorimotor association and heart rate variability (HRV) during different phases of menstrual cycle, by modulating the synthesis and metabolism of endogenous hormones (sex steroids) and their carrier proteins in the circulation.…”

“…Subjects were classified into three diet groups, Group I (n=45): vegetarians, Group II (n=25); eggetarians and Group III (n= 30): non-vegetarians, where n denotes the number of individuals in each group. The mean age and BMI, of students was mentioned in our previous studies [8]. The present study examined audio-visual reaction time and HRV during all the three phases of menstrual cycle.…”