Maturational timing and overweight prevalence in US adolescent girls.

OBJECTIVES This study examined the relation of age at menarche to overweight in US adolescent girls. METHODS Effects of age at menarche and race/ethnicity on overweight were estimated via logistic regression, after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, in a sample of 6507 Hispanic, Black, White, and Asian American girls who participated in wave 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. RESULTS Overweight prevalence rates were significantly higher in early maturing adolescents of all racial/ethnic groups but highest (57.5%) among early maturing Black girls. Early maturation nearly doubled the odds of being overweight (body mass index at or above the 85th percentile). CONCLUSIONS Greater public health attention should be focused on the high prevalence of overweight, particularly among minority female adolescents.