Objective: To investigate the prospective association between sugar-sweetened beverage intakes and age at menarche among Chinese girls.
Methods: Based on China Health and Nutrition Survey(CHNS) from 2004 to 2015, 293 girls aged 7-16 years with both data on sugar-sweetened beverage intake 1-5 years before menarche and age of menarche were included in the present study. Multivariate linear regression analysis and Logistic regression analysis were used to explore the influence of the sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on menarcheal age of Chinese girls.
Results: The median age at menarche of girls was 12 years old. The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages(SSBs) was 0.5(0.2, 1.0) L/week for sweetened soft drinks, 0.5(0.2, 0.9) L/week for sweetened fruit drinks and 0.6(0.3, 1.3) L/week for total. After adjusting age at baseline, residency, maternal educational, level, energy intake at baseline and body mass index standard deviation score, no significant association was found between sweetened soft drinks, sweetened fruit drinks, total sugar-sweetened beverage intake and age at menarche.
Conclusion: The intake of sugary beverages may not be prospectively related to the age of menarche among Chinese girls.
Keywords: menarche; nutrition survey; puberty; sugar-sweetened beverage.