Abstract

Data on the age of menarche has been collected on 264 Indian sportswomen, and 108 girls forming the control group, all hailing from the Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi. Outstanding athletes and players of hockey, basketball and volleyball were included. The combined mean age at menarche for sportswomen is 15.21 years and for the control sample is 14.05 years. The difference in the two series are statistically significant. The mean age at menarche in hockey, basketball, volleyball and athletes is found to be 15.15, 15.40, 15.05and 15.27 years respectively. The differences in these groups, however, are not found to be statistically significant. The further sub-divisions of the athletes into sprinters, distance runners, jumpers, throwers and shotputters did not show any intragroup differences in the age at menarche. There is an indication from our results that strenuous activity is responsible for the delayed maturation in the sportswomen. Verf.-Referat