@article{c6a4788eea274e978d81941a7b892a7c,
title = "Declining ages at menarche in an agrarian rural region of Poland",
abstract = "Objective: Age at menarche in Poland has varied with political and socioeconomic changes. An increase in age at menarche corresponded to a period of economic crisis and food rationing between 1976 and 1989. Experiencing food shortages in utero or during childhood development can affect menarcheal timing, but this national effect may be buffered in local agrarian regions growing their own food. Here we examine patterns of age at menarche over time in the rural, agrarian Beskid Wyspowy region of southern Poland. Methods: This study examined menarcheal timing using data collected from Polish women (n = 1326) recruited at the Mogielica Human Ecology Study Site between 2003 and 2018. Simple linear regressions were used to assess changing ages at menarche over time. Comparisons between ages at menarche for women born before and after the fall of communism in 1989 were assessed via one-way analysis of variance. Results: Age at menarche has declined over time in the Beskid Wyspowy region of southern Poland from 1920 to 2000 (R2 =.08, P <.0001). There was not a statistically significant increase or decrease in age at menarche for women born and growing up during the period of food rationing. Conclusions: The declining age at menarche is likely reflective of a transitioning environment, suggesting that major socioeconomic changes affect life history traits like pubertal timing. Living in agricultural regions may have helped buffer the increasing ages at menarche seen in other areas of Poland during times of food rationing.",
author = "Rogers, {Mary P.} and Lee, {Katharine M.N.} and Andrzej Galbarczyk and Magdalena Klimek and Klein, {Laura D.} and Katarzyna Zab{\l}ocka-S{\l}owi{\'n}ska and Grazyna Jasienska and Clancy, {Kathryn B.H.}",
note = "Funding Information: Grant‐In‐Aid of Research; Graduate College Dissertation Travel Grant; Beckman Institute Cognitive Science/Artificial Intelligence Award; Department of Anthropology Summer Research Fund; Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research; Dissertation Fieldwork Grants, Grant/Award Numbers: #089812, #084918; National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Numbers: #BCS‐1650839, #BCS‐1732117, #1317140; National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Grant/Award Number: DGE‐1144245; Salus Publica Foundation; Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Grant/Award Number: Ideas Plus IdP2011000161; National Science Centre, Grant/Award Numbers: UMO‐2017/25/B/NZ7/01509, NN404 273440 Funding information Funding Information: We would first like to acknowledge and thank the women who participated in this study at the Mogielica Human Ecology Study Site. We further thank the many research assistants who helped with this project, including (in alphabetical order) Kristina Allen, Vilimira Asenova, Haley Ban, Priya Bhatt, Sophia Bodnar, Klaudia Dziewit, Sara Gay, Juliana Georges, Fatima Godfrey, Denise Herrera, Piotr Hutka, Szczepan Jakubowski, Ansley Jones, Jacob Kanthak, Monika Kukla, Karolina Mi?kowska, Rachel Mitchell, Rachel Ogden, Agata Orkisz, Kamila Parzonka, Anna Pawi?ska, Bryana Rivera, Kinga Sokolowska, Aleksandra Starnawska, Zarin Sultana, Monika Szlachta, Katarzyna Szulc, Aleksandra Wojtarowicz, Anna Zapalska, and Kevin Zavala. The data collection at the Mogielica Human Ecology Study Site was possible thanks to National Science Centre: grant nos. NN404 273440 (G.J.), and UMO-2017/25/B/NZ7/01509 (G.J.), the Ministry of Science and Higher Education: grant Ideas Plus no. IdP2011000161 (G.J.), and Salus Publica Foundation. This material is also based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant no. Malhi & Rogers DGE-1144245 and Clancy & Lee DGE-1144245. Additionally, this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Clancy #1317140, Clancy, Lee, & Polk #BCS-1732117, and Clancy, Rogers, & Malhi #BCS-1650839. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This work was also supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grants Rogers #084918 and Lee #089812, as well as the American Philosophical Society, Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research, the University of Illinois Department of Anthropology Summer Research Fund, the Beckman Institute Cognitive Science/Artificial Intelligence Award, the University of Illinois, Graduate College Dissertation Travel Grant, and Grant-In-Aid of Research from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. The decline in age at menarche for Polish women born 1920 to 2000 may be indicative of political and socioeconomic changes. This agrarian region may have been buffered from some of these changes during the period of economic crisis and food rationing due to their ability to grow their own food. We would first like to acknowledge and thank the women who participated in this study at the Mogielica Human Ecology Study Site. We further thank the many research assistants who helped with this project, including (in alphabetical order) Kristina Allen, Vilimira Asenova, Haley Ban, Priya Bhatt, Sophia Bodnar, Klaudia Dziewit, Sara Gay, Juliana Georges, Fatima Godfrey, Denise Herrera, Piotr Hutka, Szczepan Jakubowski, Ansley Jones, Jacob Kanthak, Monika Kukla, Karolina Mi?kowska, Rachel Mitchell, Rachel Ogden, Agata Orkisz, Kamila Parzonka, Anna Pawi?ska, Bryana Rivera, Kinga Sokolowska, Aleksandra Starnawska, Zarin Sultana, Monika Szlachta, Katarzyna Szulc, Aleksandra Wojtarowicz, Anna Zapalska, and Kevin Zavala. The data collection at the Mogielica Human Ecology Study Site was possible thanks to National Science Centre: grant nos. NN404 273440 (G.J.), and UMO-2017/25/B/NZ7/01509 (G.J.), the Ministry of Science and Higher Education: grant Ideas Plus no. IdP2011000161 (G.J.), and Salus Publica Foundation. This material is also based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant no. Malhi & Rogers DGE-1144245 and Clancy & Lee DGE-1144245. Additionally, this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Clancy #1317140, Clancy, Lee, & Polk #BCS-1732117, and Clancy, Rogers, & Malhi #BCS-1650839. Funding Information: The data collection at the Mogielica Human Ecology Study Site was possible thanks to National Science Centre: grant nos. NN404 273440 (G.J.), and UMO‐2017/25/B/NZ7/01509 (G.J.), the Ministry of Science and Higher Education: grant Ideas Plus no. IdP2011000161 (G.J.), and Salus Publica Foundation. This material is also based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant no. Malhi & Rogers DGE‐1144245 and Clancy & Lee DGE‐1144245. Additionally, this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Clancy #1317140, Clancy, Lee, & Polk #BCS‐1732117, and Clancy, Rogers, & Malhi #BCS‐1650839. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This work was also supported by the Wenner‐Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grants Rogers #084918 and Lee #089812, as well as the American Philosophical Society, Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research, the University of Illinois Department of Anthropology Summer Research Fund, the Beckman Institute Cognitive Science/Artificial Intelligence Award, the University of Illinois, Graduate College Dissertation Travel Grant, and Grant‐In‐Aid of Research from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.",
year = "2020",
month = may,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1002/ajhb.23362",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "32",
journal = "American Journal of Human Biology",
issn = "1042-0533",
publisher = "Wiley-Liss Inc.",
number = "3",
}