Trend is especially pronounced among Black, Hispanic and Asian participants, and those who report lower socioeconomic status

Trend is especially pronounced among Black, Hispanic and Asian participants, and those who report lower socioeconomic status

Girls in the United States had their first periods earlier over the last five decades and it took longer to experience regular cycles, a new study has found.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found the trend is especially pronounced among Black, Hispanic, Asian and mixed race participants, and among those who reported lower socioeconomic status.

“This is important because early menarche,” or a first period, “and irregular periods can signal physical and psychosocial problems later in life,” said Zifan Wang, a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health and lead author of the study.

      • scrion@lemmy.worldEnglish
        19·
        4 months ago

        They could just cite the linked article for this:

        Although the study was large, it relies on self-reported information – which is generally considered less reliable than sources such as medical or financial records. In some cases, it would have required participants to think back decades. Still, the study will likely provide direction for future research.

          • Leg@lemmy.worldEnglish
            15·
            4 months ago

            I think you’d remember how old you were when your dong first started gushing blood for the rest of your life.

          • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            13·
            4 months ago

            Pretty fucking unlikely. Maybe if it’s the kind where the blood is brownish at first, they wouldn’t notice the first day, but once it gets thick and red and gushy by the beginning of the second day, it’s all the more alarming if you don’t know what to expect. Even if you learned about periods and aren’t worried you definitely remember that first one.

          • scrion@lemmy.worldEnglish
            7·
            4 months ago

            I’m not qualified to answer this question, I merely provide citations for people who are too lazy to read the articles and simply go by social media post titles. These citations are also not necessarily an expression of my personal opinion.

            General remarks: Memory recall is measureable / quantifiable to a certain degree: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797620954812

            Self-reports should only ever be used to augment better methods, but sometimes, it’s all we have.