The research showed that women born in 1988 went through their first period when they were around 13 years old. (image: Jeollanamdo Office of Education)
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The average age when South Korean young women experience their first period has dropped by five months over the past 15 years, a recent study revealed.
Researchers from Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital studied the average age of women who had experienced their first period among 351,006 women between 12 and 18 years of age from a 2006 to 2015 online survey on health patterns among teenagers, coming up with the said results.
The research showed that women born in 1988 went through their first period when they were around 13 years old.
Those born in 2003, in contrast, experienced their first period at the age of 12.6 years old, which is five months earlier than those born in 1988.
The results show that women experience their first period almost one year earlier compared to the previous study, when women born in the early 1980s went through their first period around the age of 13.1 to 13.8.
Big data analysis showed girls as young as 10.5 years of age can experience an early first period. Young women going through an early first period are increasing in proportion, rising from 1.8 percent in 2006 to 3.2 percent in 2015.
“Medical treatment and research on precocious puberty should consider the changes in the average age of first period,” said Prof. Park Mi-jung, who spearheaded the research.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
