Age at menarche of schoolgirls in Khartoum

Abstract

Data on age at menarche have been collected among 1372 Sudanese girls attending state schools within the capital, Khartoum, and representing three different socioeconomic groups. The mean ages, estimated by probits, were 13.35 +/- 0.14 for the well-off girls; 13.85 +/- 0.15 for the middle class and 14.06 +/- 0.18 years for the poor girls. The results were compared with data reported from other African and other Arabic-speaking countries. Well-off Sudanese girls in Khartoum have one of the earliest recorded means of all African populations studied. It seems likely that with improvement of health care and family planning, Sudanese girls would be at least as early-maturing as girls in Northern and Central Europe.

PIP: A study of the age at menarche in 3 different social classes in Khartoum, Sudan was conducted during the academic year 1980. The girls were all Sudanese and attended state schools within the capital, Khartoum. They ranged in age from 8-18 years. The population of Khartoum is Arabic speaking and predominantly Arab in origin, but there has been some admixture with other ethnic groups in Sudan. The girls and adolescents represented 3 different income groups classified arbitrarily according to the locality of the schools as high, moderate, and low income. Only those who are more privileged attend school in Sudan. The data were collected using the status quo method. The "well off" girls in Group A menstruated at age 13.35 +or- 0.15, earlier by 0.5 years than middle class girls in Group B. The difference was statistically significant. The girls in Group C, the low income group, had a mean menarcheal age which was not significantly different from the middle income Group B. This may be due to the fact that poorer classes tend to spend most of their income on food consumption and thus the differences in the dietary pattern between B and C was not very great. Between Groups A and C there was a significant difference of 0.71 of a year. The difference was statistically significant. The mean family size was found to differ, with the poorest and the unemployed having the highest average number in the family. The "well off" girls in Khartoum have one of the earliest recorded ages of menarche in Africa. When poor girls in Khartoum with a mean of 14.06 were compared with poor girls in rural Egypt with a mean of 13.9, the difference was insignificant. It seems likely that in good environmental conditions and with family planning, Sudanese girls, or at least those in the Khartoum area, may mature as early as, or earlier than, girls of northern and Central Europe.