Food Insecurity and Age at Menarche in Tampa Bay, Florida

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to assess whether household food insecurity is associated with delayed or early menarche among girls in the United States. Thirty-six dyadic household interviews were conducted with mothers and adolescent girls. The interviews included a socio-demographic survey, the USDA Six-Item Short Form Household Food Security Survey Module, anthropometric measurements, and the self-administered Youth-Adolescent Food Frequency Questionnaire. Using non-parametric quantitative analyses, we examined the associations among food insecurity, anthropometrics, diet, and age at menarche. Cox Proportional Hazards Models were used to evaluate the odds of menarche based on household food insecurity. Food insecurity significantly predicted earlier time to menarche. Food insecure girls were 4.38 times more likely to experience menarche at earlier ages when compared to food secure girls (HR = 4.38, p = .04). Furthermore, the hazard of menarche increased by 25% for each unit increase in food insecurity (OR = 1.253, p = .027). The findings suggest that household food insecurity is associated with earlier ages of menarche among girls in this sample. Early menarche has been associated with adult chronic disease risk. Thus, these findings propose that food security initiatives may be used to reduce the prevalence and health consequences of early-onset puberty.

KEYWORDS:

• Menarche
• food insecurity
• life history
• puberty

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Feeding Tampa Bay for funding this research and allowing us to recruit at their mobile food pantries. We would also like to thank the Tampa Centre for Girls, the Clearwater Neighborhood Family Center, and the Tampa Bay YWCA for their recruitment assistance. Most importantly, we give special acknowledgment to each girl, mother, and grandmother who participated in this research.

Author contributions

MB designed the study under the direction and advisement of DH, NRD, and EM. MB implemented the research, data collection, and analyses. EM provided support for statistical analyses. MB drafted the manuscript, and DH, NRD, and EM edited the manuscript and provided critical feedback on the content.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a contract with Feeding Tampa Bay, as well as by the Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida via the Department Education and General funds and the department Chair’s Fund.