creators_name: Chidiebere, Ikaraoha creators_name: Ikaraoha, Mbadiwe creators_name: Chidi, Igwe creators_name: Dennis, Allagua creators_name: Okoye, Mezie creators_name: Golden, Iwo creators_name: Peace, Ofori creators_id: Ikaraoha CI creators_id: Mbadiwe IC creators_id: Igwe CU creators_id: Allagua DO creators_id: Mezie O creators_id: Iwo GTO creators_id: Ofori PI editors_name: Kakkilaya, Srinivas editors_id: Kakkilaya BS type: journale datestamp: 2005-10-20 lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:56:11 metadata_visibility: show title: Menarchial Age of Secondary School Girls in Urban and Rural Areas of Rivers State, Nigeria ispublished: pub subjects: OJHAS full_text_status: public keywords: Menarchial age, School Girls, Urban, Rural, Sports, Socio-economic class abstract: The menarchial age of 859 secondary school girls consisting of 508 from urban and 351 from rural area of Rivers State, Nigeria were determined, using questionnaires and interview method. Data collation revealed that 69.2% (243) of the rural population were menstruating, while 70.1% (356) of the urban population were menstruating. Mean ages of menarche were 13.19±1.32 years and 14.22±1.47 years for urban and rural areas respectively .A statistically significant lower mean menarchial age was observed in urban area girls, compared to their rural counterparts. Girls from families of high socio-economic class has significantly lower mean menarchial age in both urban and rural area. The mean age of menarche was significantly higher in girls involved in vigorous sporting activity in rural areas compared to their non-sporting counterparts. Urban school girls attain menarche earlier than those in rural area. High socio-economic class and vigorous sporting activity can be predisposing factors to low and high age of menarche respectively. There is need for redefinition of high socio-economic class in Nigeria. date: 2005-08 date_type: published publication: Online Journal Of Health And Allied Sciences volume: 4 number: 2 publisher: Dr. B.S. Kakkilaya refereed: TRUE referencetext: 1. Abioye-kuteyi EA, Ojofetimi EO, Anina OI, Kio F, Aluko Y, Mosuro O. The Influence of socio-economic and nutritional status on menarche in Nigeria school girls. Nutri Health.1997;11:186-95. 2. Dare FO, Oguniyi SO, Makinde OO. Biosocial Factors affecting Menarche in mixed Nigerian population. Cent Afri J Med.1992;77-81 3. Toriola AL, Mathur DN. Mentrual dysfunction in Nigerian Athlethes. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1986;93: 979-85. 4. Samsudin L. The age of menarche as related to physical growth of junior high school girls in Jakarta. Paediatr- Indones.1990;30: 254-60. 5. Diegton CM, Sykes H, Walker DT. Rheumatoid Arthritis, HLA identity and age of menarche. Ann Rheum- Dis. 1993;52:322-6. 6. Valenzuela C, Avendano A, Hueta J, Wells P, Gana R. Age of menarche and genetic blood markers. Rev. Med Chil.1990;118:736-8.' 7. Lin WS, Chen AC, Su JZ, Zhu FC, Xing WH, Li JY, Ye GS. The menarche of Chinese girls. An Hum.Biol. 1992;502-12. 8. Ikechebelu JI. The age of menarche in Nigerian school girls, its relationship to socio- economic status with comments on the secular trends. Orient J Med 1991;1:182-5. 9. Stager JM, Hatler LK. Menarche in Athlethes: The influence of genetic and pre-pubertal training. Med Sci Sports Exerc.1988;29:269-73. citation: Chidiebere Ikechukwu, Ikaraoha and Ikaraoha Chigaekwu, Mbadiwe and Chidi Uzoma, Igwe and Dennis O, Allagua and Okoye, Mezie and Golden TO, Iwo and Peace I, Ofori (2005) Menarchial Age of Secondary School Girls in Urban and Rural Areas of Rivers State, Nigeria. [Journal (On-line/Unpaginated)] document_url: http://cogprints.org/4554/1/2005-2-4.pdf