Neighbourhood environment and early menarche among adolescent girls of five countries

Introduction: We aim to investigate the relationship between individuals’ perceptions of their neighbourhood environment and early menarche. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 7,486 girls of Ethiopia, India, South Korea, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US), born in 1997–2011 was analysed. Early menarche was defined as being below the 10th to 20th percentiles in each cohort, considering the varying distributions across countries. Perceived neighbourhood environments were assessed based on the responses for neighbourhood pollution, safety, and recreational facilities. We calculated the relative risk (RR) of early menarche for unfavourable environment. Results: The mean age at menarche was lowest in South Korea (10.6 years) and highest in Ethiopia (13.7 years). Unfavourable environment was associated with higher risk of early menarche overall (RR = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.09–1.65) and each country (3.03, 95% CI: 1.15–7.96 in Ethiopia; 1.99, 95% CI: 0.97–4.10 in India, 1.23, 95% CI: 0.67–2.27 in Korea; 1.26, 95% CI: 0.96–1.64 in the UK). Specifically, pollution (1.29, 95% CI: 1.03–1.62) and low safety (1.19, 95% CI: 1.60–1.88) were associated with early menarche. Conclusions: Our finding highlights the potential role of perceived neighbourhood environment in the timing of puberty.