ArticleAnnals of human biology2018
Rural-urban variations in age at menarche, adult height, leg-length and abdominal adiposity in black South African women in transitioning South Africa.
Article in Annals of human biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Age at menarche in South Asia: an interplay of sociodemographic, nutritional, lifestyle, anthropometric, biological, and environmental factors-a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Assessment of the differences in Mean Age at Menarche (MAM) among adolescent girls in rural and urban Nigeria: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Age-Specific Normative Data on Testicular Volume and Serum Testosterone Levels in Apparently Healthy Boys from Northern India.Indian pediatrics · 2025Observational
- Non-Communicable Disease Burden and Dietary Determinants in Women of Reproductive Age in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- Prognostic values of modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular events in South African health promotion.PloS one · 2022Article
- Prevalence and determinants of obesity and abdominal obesity among rural workers in Southeastern Brazil.PloS one · 2022Article
- The Magnitude and Directions of the Associations between Early Life Factors and Metabolic Syndrome Differ across Geographical Locations among Migrant and Non-Migrant Ghanaians-The RODAM Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Maternal investment, life-history trajectory of the off-spring and cardiovascular disease risk in Emirati females in the United Arab Emirates.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Stunting in infancy, pubertal trajectories and adult body composition: the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort, South Africa.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Article
- Early-life factors are associated with waist circumference and type 2 diabetes among Ghanaian adults: The RODAM Study.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Life history trade-offs and the partitioning of maternal investment: Implications for health of mothers and offspring.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe pre-pubertal socioeconomic environment may be an important determinant of age at menarche, adult height, body proportions and adiposity: traits closely linked to adolescent and adult health.
aimsThis study explored differences in age at menarche, adult height, relative leg-length and waist circumference between rural and urban black South African young adult women, who are at different stages of the nutrition and epidemiologic transitions. SUBJECTS AND
methodsWe compared 18-23 year-old black South African women, 482 urban-dwelling from Soweto and 509 from the rural Mpumalanga province. Age at menarche, obstetric history and household socio-demographic and economic information were recorded using interview-administered questionnaires. Height, sitting-height, hip and waist circumference were measured using standardised techniques.
resultsUrban and rural black South African women differed in their age at menarche (at ages 12.7 and 14.5 years, respectively). In urban women, a one-year increase in age at menarche was associated with a 0.65 cm and 0.16% increase in height and relative leg-length ratio, respectively. In both settings, earlier age at menarche and shorter relative leg-length were independently associated with an increase in waist circumference.
conclusionsIn black South African women, the earlier onset of puberty, and consequently an earlier growth cessation process, may lead to central fat mass accumulation in adulthood.
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Registered trials
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