Table 1.
Characteristics of Women by Age at Menarche Categories: CARDIA study.
| Age at menarche (years) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8–<12 (n=293) |
12–<14 (n=692) |
14–18 (n=229) |
|
| Age at year 0 exam | 24.7 (3.7) | 25.1 (3.6) | 24.8 (3.8) |
| Black race (%) | 62.1 | 50.4 | 52.4 |
| Participant education > high school (%) | 77.8 | 79.8 | 76.9 |
| Maternal education > high school (%) | 35.3 | 42.7 | 43.8 |
| Paternal education > high school (%) | 37.2 | 44.4 | 48.6 |
| Maternal diabetes (%) | 13.0 | 10.7 | 9.6 |
| Paternal diabetes (%) | 13.3 | 11.6 | 8.3 |
| Birth weight (g) (n=38/93/33) | 3031.9 (708.3) | 3072.7 (548.0) | 3078.9 (678.1) |
| Parity at year 25 exam | 2.6 (2.0) | 2.7 (2.0) | 2.5 (1.9) |
| Postmenopausal at year 25 exam (%) | 49.7 | 47.0 | 46.1 |
| Early-life lifestyle variables | |||
| Highest level of pre-high school PA (%) | 28.3 | 30.2 | 32.8 |
| Diet score at year 0 exam | 62.6 (12.4) | 63.9 (13.1) | 63.2 (13.6) |
| Ever smoker at year 0 exam (%) | 23.6 | 19.9 | 25.8 |
| Year 0 anthropometric fat indicators | |||
| BMI at year 0 exam (kg/m2) | 26.3 (5.8) | 24.6 (5.5) | 23.2 (4.9) |
| Obese* at year 0 exam (%) | 23.2 | 14.2 | 10.5 |
| Weight gain (kg) between year 0 and 25 | 19.7 (17.6) | 18.5 (16.2) | 15.1 (14.9) |
Values presented are unadjusted means (and standard deviations) unless otherwise indicated.
*
Obesity is defined as BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2
Correlations between menarcheal age and: year 0 BMI = 0.18; year 25 BMI = 0.20; year 25 liver attenuation = 0.11.
Correlations between year 0 BMI and: year 25 BMI = 0.68; year 25 liver attenuation = 0.30.
Correlations between year 25 BMI and liver attenuation = 0.41.