A comparison of height growth curves among girls with different ages of menarche.

The height growth curves of 170 Japanese girls were studied longitudinally from age 7 to 17 to see if there is a relationship with age of menarche. The height and time of menarche were obtained from school health records. The girls were divided into four groups depending on their age of menarche. The mean heights at 17 years were nearly the same among the groups. A significant relationship was found between the growth curve of height and the time of menarche. Although menarche occurs during the descent of the height velocity curve, some have the menarche soon after the time of peak velocity and still have a relatively great growth potential at the time of menarche.Discriminant analysis for the five groups of girls classified by height at 17 years of age was performed to predict adult height. When the height at the menarche, the height increment during the year prior to the menarche (PIH) and the age of menarche were used as discriminant variables; 81.2% of girls were correctly categorized. However, when PIH was eliminated,71.8% of girls were distinguished. This finding suggests that the growth after menarche is affected not only by the age of menarche but by the increment of height during the year prior to the menarche.