In the mothers, early age at menarche was linearly associated with reduced adult height (by 0.64 cm/y; p < 0.001), but increased adult body weight (0.92 kg/y; p < 0.001) and BMI (0.51 kg/m2/y; p < 0.001; Table 1). Compared with the oldest menarche quintile (≥15 y old), those mothers in the earliest menarche quintile (≤11 y) had a 5-fold increased risk of obesity (OR 5.11, 95% CI 3.41–7.67; p < 0.001, adjusted for mother's age and education).
