Abstract
To further evaluate the Frisch-Revelle hypothesis that M is triggered by the achievement of a critical body weight or composition (fat:water:solids), heights and weights were assembled and body compositions derived for groups of girls with selected disorders of growth. 34 with unusually tall stature had M at weights in excess of the “critical” figure of 47.8 kg, but had the typical menarchal body composition. 18 girls under 10 years of age with central idiopathic precocity had M far below the critical weight; their body composition differed from that of age and height controls but was similar to that of normal girls at M. 18 with gonadal dysgenesis were studied at the age of M in a normal population, and 15 of these at the age when normal girls would be beginning their growth spurts. Body composition changed as in normal girls between these times. 11 first decade girls with hypothyroidism but no clinical evidence of puberty had pre-pubertal body compositions; 7 with precocious M had as much fat/kg as normal menarchal girls. 14 girls under 10 years with simple obesity had pre-pubertal phenotypes but even more fat/kg than normals at M. Thus, except in gonadal dysgenesis and simple obesity, M was highly correlated with a characteristic body composition; girls with Turner's syndrome indicate its achievement is not entirely estrogen dependent while those with obesity suggest its attainment does not directly “trigger” M.
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Osler, D., Crawford, J. BODY COMPOSITION AT MENARCHE (M) IN SELECTED DISORDERS OF GROWTH. Pediatr Res 8, 359 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197404000-00114
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197404000-00114
