The Prevalence of Obesity, Serum Lipid Levels and Age at Menarche in Adolescent Female Athletes

Kang, Bo Young; Kim, Yang Kyong; Hong, Young Jin; Son, Byong Kwan; Chang, Kyung Ja; Kim, Soon Ki

Abstract

PURPOSE
The aim of this study is to find the prevalence of obesity, the serum lipid levels and the age at menarche in adolescent female athletes and to examine the effects of exercise in adolescent stage.
METHODS
With a questionnaire regarding their age at menarche, physical measurement, body fat, and blood samples of the serum lipid levels to evaluate the hyperlipidemia were obtained from adolescent female athletes(n=107) and general adolescent students(n=650) who didn't exercise at regular intervals, aged 12 to 18 years.
RESULTS
The mean weight in the athletes' group was 53.3+/-7.3 kg, which was similar with 54.3+/-8.0 kg in the control group. The mean height in the athletes' group was 161.4+/-5.4 cm, which was taller than 158.9+/-5.3 cm in the control group. The prevalence of obesity by obesity index, body fat, and BMI in the athletes' group were significantly lower than in control group. There was no significant difference in age at menarche between two groups(12.6+/-1.3, 12.9+/-1.2). The levels of cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol in the athletes' group were higher than in the control group. The levels of triglyceride in the athletes' group was lower than in control group.
CONCLUSION
These data suggest the importance of exercise in adolescents for the prevention of obesity since it may reduce body fat and increase the height. There was no negative effect of exercise on the age at menarche. We think that more controlled assessment of nutrition, diet habit, hormonal effect and height are warranted to find the correlation with hyperlipidemia and exercise at the adolescent stage.