Average age of menarche among college students-descriptive survey

There is a change in the trend of Age at menarche and it's a general observation that girls are attaining puberty at a younger age than before. The current study is done to identify the average age of menarche among students at a selected college, Chennai.

Descriptive survey research design, with a sample size of 390 students from a selected college using purposive sampling technique was adopted. Self-administered Proforma on demographic and menstrual variables was used as a tool to collect data. Results and Discussion: Majority of the students attained menarche between the age of 11 to 13 yrs and the average age at menarche was 12 yrs. Whereas There was a significant association between age at menarche and rea of residence, Investing in the health and well-being of adolescents, especially adolescent girls, should be the priority for policy makers and the parents. majority of the mothers of the students attained menarche at the age of 14–16 years and their average age at menarche was 15years. birth order, blood group, a food pattern, frequency of having non veg, habit of consuming bakery items, packed food items and soft drinks.

Investing in the health and well-being of adolescents, especially adolescent girls, should be the priority for policy makers and the parents.