A recent study says that first menstruation of a girl may be the reason for her first sexual attraction or marriage. Her first pregnancy and all other sexually transmitted infections can also be affected at an extent. Mensuration cycle is an indication to the start of puberty age of a girl. Marni Sommer says, "It is a definition of maturity. Physical, nutritional and reproductive health were also linked with mensturation cycle of a girl. Yet it is always a ignored when it comes to relate it with public hygiene and health".
In high – income countries, early menstruation is defined as before the age of 12. During adolescence, the link between menstruation and various negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes data were used for keen studies and conclusions by The Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. These included early sexual debut, experiences of sexual advances from older men, early pregnancy and childbirth, sexual risk taking, and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
Further, studies were also performed by researchers to establish links between early menarche and early marriage. Two studies were conducted in Malawi. Others were conducted in South Africa, Nepal, Jamaica, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India, and Bangladesh. Overall, an earlier age at menstruation was associated with an earlier age of sexual initiation, age at pregnancy, and first live birth. A sample of Jamaican women who menstruated early was 28 percent more likely to engage in sexual intercourse before the age of 16. In rural Malawi, 55 percent of those who had their first period before age 14 had sex before the age of 16, compared with 27 percent of those with menstruation at age 14 to 15, and only 4 percent of those with menstruation at age 16 or older. Few girls engaged in sexual intercourse before they began menstruation. In India, for example, one study suggested that for each year menstruation was delayed, the age of marriage increased by nine months.
Other than the possibilities of similarities in the relationship between early menstruation and sexual and reproductive health in low-, middle- and high-income countries, the factors related with early menstruation and early marriage may differ across ethnic communities within the same country," noted lead author Mobolaji Ibitoye. “Although our analysis did not examine these patterns, there is a critical need to assess if similar associations exist in low-and middle-income countries," said Sommer. "Ultimately this reinforces the importance of including age of mensuration in many more studies." "This emphasize on the understanding of the cultural and regional variations in the effect of age at menstruation on age at marriage both within and between countries.
