Assessing secular trend in the menarcheal age of Indian women? Insights from Indian Human Development Survey

Evidences from across several countries hints towards a secular decline in the age at onset of menarche over past two centuries with considerable spatial variations. However, data substantiating any secular trend in the age at menarche among Indian population has been hitherto fragmented and inadequately verified.
Using nationally representative data on 91394 women aged 15-49 years from the Indian Human Development Survey (2005), this research evaluated the cohort specific trends in the age at onset of menarche among Indian women born between 1955-1989. Besides, salient demographic, socioeconomic, and contextual factors determining the age at onset of menarche were also investigated.
The adjusted predicted mean age at onset of menarche among Indian women was 13.76 years (95 % CI: 13.75, 13.77) in 2005. It declined by 3.0 months from 13.83 years (95% CI: 13.81, 13.85) among women born prior to 1955-1964, to nearly 13.62 years (95% CI: 13.58, 13.67) among women born during late 1985-1989. However, there was extensive spatial heterogeneity as adjusted predicted menarcheal age varied from 15.0 years among women from Himachal Pradesh born during 1955-1964 (95% CI: 14.89-15.11) to about 12.1 years among women from Assam (95% CI: 11.63-12.56) born between 1985-1989.