Girls who got their first menstrual period before the age of 12 grew faster in childhood but ended up shorter as adults than did their peers who had an average or late start of menstruation, according to a new study. The results will be presented Monday, June 4, at The Endocrine Society’s 89th Annual Meeting in Toronto.

Early maturing girls also experienced their adolescent growth spurt sooner than did girls who had their first period at age 12 or older, the study’s lead author said. Karen Remsberg, PhD, an assistant professor at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, said these early growth changes would encourage premature skeletal maturation. A child normally grows at a steady rate and then has a pre-puberty growth spurt. At that time, the sex hormones also speed up the process that ends skeletal growth. Therefore, children who end puberty prematurely do not reach their potential full height as adults, Remsberg explained.

This new study, part of the large Fels Longitudinal Study in southwestern Ohio, tracked growth patterns for 244 girls from early childhood to the point of reaching adult height. The researchers defined early menstrual onset as before age 12. In the United States, most girls start menstruating at age 12, according to the National Institutes of Health, which funded the study.

The study did not address whether the relationship between early onset of menstruation—called early menarche—and childhood growth patterns has health consequences. However, other studies have shown that girls with early menarche may be at increased risk later in life for heart disease, breast and ovarian cancer, and obesity.

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