Why the age you get your period matters — for the rest of your life
From academic success to cancer risk, research increasingly shows that the age at which a person gets their period - called “menarche” - can have a significant impact on their life.
In the mid-19th Century, the average age of menarche in the U.S. was around 17 years old (though given that slavery wasn’t outlawed until 1865, that data was not likely entirely representative). By 2002, it had dropped to 12.6 years old, and by 2010, to 12.5 years old.
So what explains the decline? While researchers have a few different theories - including exposure to chemicals in the environment or food that affect our hormones - experts believe the biggest and most basic culprit is an increase in fat in our diets.
The average age of menarche in the mid-19th century was higher because people were often undernourished. Lower body fat meant puberty was delayed - the body’s way of saying it wasn’t prepared to carry a child yet. This all changed in the 20th century. As more fat was introduced into people’s diet, the body responded by initiating puberty earlier. No longer were people getting their period earlier because the right amount of fat had been introduced - now they were getting their periods sooner because they were getting too much fat.
Experts don’t know exactly what triggers puberty, but they believe fat plays a major role. Thus, people with extremely high BMIs for their age may start puberty as young as 7 years old, and in turn, get their period before age 11 - increasing their risk for a host of psychological, social, and health issues.
But on top of the psychological and social challenges, getting your period young is associated with a slew of health risks. Notably, research suggests that people who go through menarche early are more likely to develop breast cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. All of these correlations are currently being explored.
The cancer risk may boil down to being exposed to estrogen for a longer period of time, as well as developing breast tissue sooner. A large meta-analysis study published in 2012 found that risk of breast cancer increased by 5 percent for each year younger the person reached menarche.
Another study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, found that ovarian cancer patients whose age of first menstrual cycle was younger than 12 were associated with higher mortality rates - they were 51 percent more likely to die from the cancer than those whose age at menarche was 14 or older.
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