Trend is especially pronounced among Black, Hispanic and Asian participants, and those who report lower socioeconomic status

Girls in the United States had their first periods earlier over the last five decades and it took longer to experience regular cycles, a new study has found.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, found the trend is especially pronounced among Black, Hispanic, Asian and mixed race participants, and among those who reported lower socioeconomic status.

“This is important because early menarche,” or a first period, “and irregular periods can signal physical and psychosocial problems later in life,” said Zifan Wang, a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health and lead author of the study.

  • Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    Pretty fucking unlikely. Maybe if it’s the kind where the blood is brownish at first, they wouldn’t notice the first day, but once it gets thick and red and gushy by the beginning of the second day, it’s all the more alarming if you don’t know what to expect. Even if you learned about periods and aren’t worried you definitely remember that first one. I was 11 and it was summer so 11.4