Children are getting their periods earlier, study finds. Here’s what that means for their health

CNN
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Younger generations are getting their first periods earlier and the time it takes to become regular is changing, which could indicate later health problems, a new study suggests.

“Among individuals born between 1950 and 2005, we found that younger generations were starting their first period (menarche) earlier and that the time it took for their periods to become regular was also increasing,” said the lead author of the study. study, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Zifan Wang. researcher at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health, in an email.

The study, published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open, examined data from more than 70,000 participants who completed surveys as part of the Apple Women’s Health Study, which is long-term research into menstrual cycles using data from the Apple Health mobile app. .

The data was collected digitally, relying on people to self-report the information based on their memories of early menstruation, thus limiting the results, Wang explained. But other research has documented the trend of first menstrual cycles starting at younger ages over time.

In the latest study, researchers compared trends in the age of menarche and the time it takes for menstruation to become regular across age groups, Wang said. They found that the trends were even stronger among people from racial and ethnic minority groups and/or lower socioeconomic status.

“This is important because early and irregular periods can signal physical and psychosocial problems later in life,” Wang said, “and these trends may contribute to increasing health problems and disparities in the United States. United.”

Menstruation is like a vital sign, said Dr. Eve Feinberg, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. She did not participate in the research.

“You want to make sure the body is regulated,” Feinberg said. “And when the cycles aren’t regular, that’s usually a sign that something else may be going on.”

Scientists and health care providers already know that early periods and longer cycle regulation time are associated with poor health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and cancer, Wang said.

The more irregular menstrual cycles people have, the more they may be at risk for an imbalance between two important hormones: estrogen and progesterone, Feinberg said.

Estrogen signals growth, while progesterone signals that growth stops, she added. To prevent diseases such as uterine cancer, you need to receive the necessary signals to start and stop growth.

Theoretically, longer exposures to estrogen without a proper balance of progesterone could lead to an increase in endometrial cancers and fertility problems in the future, she said.

And an early period itself can pose problems, Feinberg added.

For an 8-year-old going through puberty, there is often a mismatch between the child’s mental and physical age, she said.

The next question is: why do these menstrual patterns change?

Earlier periods could be associated with high body mass index (BMI) during childhood, Wang said.

“This implies that childhood obesity, which is increasing in the United States, could contribute to people getting their periods earlier,” Wang added.

The cause could also be other environmental factors such as nutrition or the prevalence of microplastics, Feinberg said, adding that further investigation was needed.

Additional research can help doctors better counsel people about their periods and recognize the impact on their patients’ health, said one of the study’s principal investigators, Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah, assistant professor of health environmental, reproductive and women’s studies at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public. Health.

Doctors should evaluate children with early periods or a long duration of irregular cycles to make sure there is no underlying problem, Feinberg said.

“Sometimes even using birth control pills at an earlier age to help with earlier exposure to progesterone… can give a little more control over the cycle and may possibly be protective,” she said. declared. “But I think the key is probably to really understand what’s driving this and identify the root cause.”