Maturational timing and overweight prevalence in US adolescent girls

Objectives. This study examined the relation of age at menarche to overweig ht in US adolescent girls., Methods. Effects of age at menarche and race/ethnicity on overweight were e stimated via logistic regression, after adjustment for sociodemographic cha racteristics, in a sample of 6507 Hispanic, Black, White, and Asian America n girls who participated in wave 2 of the National Longitudinal Study of Ad olescent Health, Results. Overweight prevalence rates were significantly higher in early mat uring adolescents of all racial/ethnic groups but highest (57.5%) among ear ly 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.