1-PUBERTY IN A SAMPLE OF BRAZILIAN SCHOOLGIRLS: TIMING, EVOLUTION AND ANTHROPOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS.

A cross-sectional study in which we evaluated 665 girls, part of a sample of 1095 schoolchildren of both sexes representing the schoolchildren population in Uberaba. The objective of this study was to find out the age at which puberty begins, the age of menarche and anthropometrics of the participants at different stages of puberty. We found that thelarche was attained at the age of 9.8 ± 1.4 years and menarche at 11.7 ± 1.3. The prevalence of excess weight was 32%; 95% of the participants began thelarche between the age of 7 and 12 years. These values indicate a secular tendency to the reduction of the age of menarche and earlier beginning of puberty. It is very important to know these parameters in order to establish public policies aiming at plans to prevent these early events, especially regarding control of the prevalence of obesity, one of the factors associated with these changes, and also attention to the consequences of sexual precociousness, ranging from the risk of early pregnancy to the higher probability of breast cancer and psychosocial disorders.