We then assessed the relevance of our novel menarche loci to adult BMI and height by exploring in silico data from the GIANT consortium. Nine of the 42 menarche loci were associated with adult BMI (at P<0.05; N=32,530); in all cases the allele associated with higher BMI was associated with earlier menarche (Supplementary Table 15). Eighteen of the menarche loci were associated with adult height (at P<0.05; N~130,000); although for three of these the direction of effect was opposite to that predicted from epidemiological studies (Supplementary Table 16). Despite these joint associations with body size, in ALSPAC mothers the combined influence of the menarche loci on age at menarche appeared to be completely unattenuated following adjustment for adult height and BMI (Supplementary Table 17) suggesting that in general these menarche loci have direct effects on age at menarche. However, we acknowledge that further large studies with childhood growth data are needed to establish the causal directions of effect of these loci.
