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.