Menarcheal age among Indian sportswomen.

The subjects of the study were 85 Indian sportswomen from Delhi and the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat, and included outstanding players of cricket, hockey, kho-kho and table-tennis, who were winners of university, state or national championships. A sample of 77 subjects selected at random was used as the control. The recall procedures suggested by Damon and Bajema (1974) were used. The combined mean age at menarche for sportswomen is 13.56 years and for the control sample is 12.7 years. Menarche was significantly delayed in those sportswomen who embarked on physical training activities before the onset of menstruation. There are also variations in the mean menarcheal age between participants in different sports specialities.