Anthropometric and Reproductive Characteristics of Girls and Women in Kumana Chiefdom, Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria
Chapter One
Aim and objective of the study
Aim of the study
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between the anthropometric and reproductive characteristics of girls and women in Kumana Chiefdom, Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Objectives of the study
The objectives of the study were to:-
- describe the anthropometric characteristics of girls and women in Kumana
- determinethe pattern of reproductive characteristics of girls using mean menarcheal
- investigate the relationships between some anthropometric traits (Body massindex) and some reproductive characteristics, such as menarcheal and menopausal
- determine the perception and attitude of the girls and women toward theirreproductive changes\
- investigate relationships between (2D:4D) digit ratio, menarcheal and menopausal age in girls and women from Kumana
- investigate the relationship between some anthropometric variables and height of the girls and women in Kumana Chiefdom
- determine the relationship of the reproductive characteristics and their determinants
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Puberty in Girls
Puberty is the process of change that occurs in the body of girls in which the body matures into adult hood. Puberty and adolescence are often used synonymous to refer to the developmental transition from childhood to adulthood, even though they are not the same (Sisk and Zehr, 2005). Puberty is the period during which the individual becomes capable of reproducing, while adolescence is the period between childhood and adulthood, encompassing not only reproductive maturation but also cognitive, emotional and social maturation (Sisk and Zehr, 2005). A biological hallmark of puberty is the elevated secretion of gonadal steroid hormones which produce the signs of reproductive maturation such as the development of breast or the appearance of facial hair. A biological hallmark of adolescence is the remarkable remodeling of cortical and limbic circuit which leads to acquisition of adult cognition, decision making strategies and social behaviours. Puberty and adolescence are intricately linked because the brain is the target organ for steroid hormones (Sisk and Zehr, 2005).
Some factors are responsible for the occurrence of puberty, prominent among these factors are genetic and environmental factors that are responsible for the timing of puberty in girls (Ge et al., 2007). The average age at which puberty begins may also be affected by race as well, the African-American girls are found to have the earliest onset of puberty and the Asian girls having the latest onset of puberty (Mustanski et al., 2004; Dunger et al., 2005). Direct genetic effect have been found to account for at least 46% of the variations of timing of puberty in well-nourished populations, this genetic association is strongest between mothers and daughters (Commings et al., 2002; Mustanski et al., 2004). Body fat or body composition may also play an important role in regulating the onset of puberty (Thomas, et al., 2001). Puberty is associated with the development of sex characteristics which is the most notable morphological changes in the girl (Parent, et al., 2003; Kail and Cavanaugh, 2010). There is early or late puberty, early puberty is term precocious puberty and the one that starts later than usual is known as delayed puberty. Some medical conditions in the girl may worsen or become apparent at puberty. It has been observed that childhood obesity may be related to early puberty (Davison, et al., 2003). Nodding syndrome is a neurological disorder that affect children and adolescents in parts of East Africa (Winkler et al., 2008; Dowell et al., 2013) patients with the nodding syndrome have extreme short stature and delayed development of secondary sexual characteristics which causes delay in the onset of the Puberty (Piloya-Were et al., 2014).
Some patients have also been observed to have delayed development of secondary sexual characteristics and very low height as compared to normal children. These types of patients are said to have Nakalanga syndrome, which is similar to the Nodding syndrome (Piloya-Were et al., 2014). Puberty only describes the physical changes to sexual maturation not psychosocial and cultural maturation that is described by adolescent (Gluckman and Hanson, 2006; Chukwujekwu et al., 2014). The first sign of puberty in girls is a firm, tender lump under the center of the areola of one or both breast and the second is the pubic hair visible first along the labia. Perineal skin keratinizes under the influence of estrogen increasing its resistance to infection. At the completion of puberty uterine body to cervix ratio increases from 1:1 to 2:1 or 3:1.
Infertility
Infertility refers to an inability of couples to conceive after having regular unprotected sex for at least a year (Larsen, 2005). It is also referred to be the biological inability of an individual to contribute to the conception or to a female who cannot carry pregnancy to full term (Sule, et al., 2008). About 30% of infertility is due to females, 30% to male problems and 30% to combined male and female problems, while 10% is due to no recognisable cause. Infertility can lead to distress and depression as well as discrimination (Cui, 2010). To reduce the burden of this neglected disability an accurate profile of the prevalence is very important but this is very difficult because of the scarcity of population based studies (Sule et al., 2008). The inability to have children affects both men and women (Cui, 2010).
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Materials
The anthropometric equipment that were used in this study were; the Stadiometer, Measuring tape, skin-fold and Vernier calipers, Digital BP Apparatus and the Inner Scan Body composition Monitor.
Height and Weight Measurements:
Stadiometer was used to measure height and weight, where the subjects were made to stand on the stadiometer, with the weight evenly distributed on both feet and without shoes. The heels of the feet were placed together with both heels touching the base of vertical board of the stadiometer (NHANES, 1998). The feet pointed slightly outward at 60 degrees angle, with the subject putting on light clothes. The weight was measured to the nearest 0.1 kg and the height was measured from the sole of the feet to the vertex of the head, and recorded to the nearest 0.1 cm.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
Descriptive statistics of the study
Table 4.1 shows the mean values body circumferences of the girls and women of the study population. The mean values of the hip circumference for the women and the girls were found to be 92.94 ± 8.81 cm and 86.60 ± 7.30 cm, respectively. The mean values of waist circumference for the women and girls were 80.59 ± 9.25 cm and 75.62 ± 4.20 cm respectively and the mean values of the neck circumference of the women and girls were 31.43 ± 2.61 cm and 30.27 ± 1.92 cm, respectively.
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION
Age at menarche
Menarche indicates functional development of the female reproductive system and indicates their age of puberty or maturity (Ayatollahi et al., 2002). In the present study, the mean menarcheal of the subjects was found to be 14.85 ± 1.78 years, which was higher than the one reported in the study carried out in Maiduguri by Jack et al (2005), where they found the age at menarche to be 13.6 years. The mean menarcheal age of girls and women were observed to be 13.55 ± 1.35 years and 15.58 ± 1.57 years respectively, which was seen to show some secular trend of decreasing with age, supporting the study conducted by Thomas et al (2001). The mean menarcheal age of the girls in the study population was found to be higher than the one reported by Ikaraoha et al (2005) in Rivers State, where the mean menarcheal age was reported to be 13.19 years. The differences could be due to the fact that the present study was done in a rural area and the influence of socio-economic status. The mean menarcheal age of women was observed to be higher than that of the one found on the Saharia women according to study conducted by Biswar and Kapoor, 2004. A study conducted by Anderson et al (2003) on American girls showed a decrease in menarcheal age from 12.75 years to 12.54 years, which proved a decreasing trend, which showed some similarity with the present study. In this study, the menarcheal age of the girls was found to be higher than the 13.0 years found by Amaza et al (2012) in Maiduguri, but lower than the 15.26 years found by Tunau et al (2012) in Sokoto. It may be that environmental factor had played greater role in the differences of the results in comparison to these two reports. The result of this study was found to be similar to that of Mpora et al (2014), who reported 13.6 years to be the menarcheal age of girls in the rural area of Northern Uganda. The result of this study was found to be higher than the 13.44 years, but lower than the 13.65 years obtained by Nwanko et al (2016), on Igbo and Hausa ethnic groups respectively, which could be as a result of ethnic difference and the area of study.
CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary
The study on the anthropometric and reproductive characteristics of the girls and women in Kumana Chiefdom presented interesting results, because some of the results agree with findings of others’ while a handful did not agree with previous reports.
The result of regression analyses presented in Tab.4.12 did not agree with many reports that found that, height could be estimated using palm length, hand length, foot length and finger lengths. The result of this study showed that height can only be estimated using the weight and body mass index (BMI) of the individual.
The most interesting aspect of this study was that the majority of the women had the ability to become pregnant, because there were many women with high reproductive success. Many women were observed to be undergoing menses, with few of them having irregular menstruations. It was also discovered that, many of the women had never had any miscarriage.
Another aspect of this study was that, the majority of the women had normal weight, only few of the women were seen to be obese, which is a clear indication that cases of cardiovascular disease could be rare in this study population. The normal weight observed in many of the women could have happened due to standard of living of the families and minimal nutritional stature of the families. Occupational status of the women and parents of the girls was another factor that could be responsible for the normal weight and BMI seen in this study, because almost everyone of the subjects were involved in farming and only few were found to be civil servants, which meant that there was some level exercise that many subjects used to undergo at some time.
There was knowledge of menopause among the different class of the women and the source of knowledge of menopause was obtained from sermons received from churches because of high percentage of illiteracy in this area of study. The age at menarche of the women was observed to be higher than that of the girls, in agreement with the secular trend of events over the years and this also showed that there was improvement in the nutritional status of the study population.
Conclusion
The risk of diseases associated with menarcheal age and menopause age could be very low, considering that the reproductive characteristics were not strongly correlated with the anthropometric characteristics that could trigger any of the diseases. For example breast cancer and arteriosclerosis, because most of the female were seen to be within the normal BMI and blood pressure. The women that were menstruating were observed to be many, indicating higher gynecological age in the study population.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made in view of the observation on the results:
- Further studies should be conducted to compare with other ethnic groups or other chiefdoms in the Local Government Area
- Furtherstudies should be conducted to ascertain genetic influence on the anthropometric characteristics in this study population
- Further investigations hould be done on the anthropometric characteristics involving both sexes
- Another study should be done using larger sample to ascertain the influence ofethnicity on menarcheal and menopausal ages in the Local Government Area
- Further investigation on the reproductive characteristics should be done toinclude sisters, twins, daughters and mothers and even the absence any of the parents
Contribution to knowledge
The study was able to established the following;
- The BMI of the girls and women of Kumana Chiefdom are 77 ± 2.79 kg/m2and 23.72 ± 3.71 kg/m2 respectively.
- The blood pressure of girls and women 95 ± 11.16 mm Hg and 127.86 ± 19.06 mm Hg respectively, for the systolic, as well as 70.76 ± 9.54 and 81.02 ± 11.12 mm Hg respectively, for the diastolic.
- The waist circumference of 59 ± 9.25cm for women and75.62 ± 4.20 cm for the girls.
- Menarcheal and menopausal ages of the women were 577±1.569 years, and 47.172 ± 5.069 years respectively, and menarcheal age of 14.85 ± 1.78 years for the study population and 13.55 ± 1.35 years for the girls.
- Lefthander subject had higher menarcheal age than the right handed of 05 ± 2.19 years and 14.26 ± 1.89 years, respectively
- Menarcheal of girls born in the dry season were found to be (12.54 ± 1.56 years)lower than the girls born in the rainy season (14.32 ± 1.73 years), it was also found that the menopause age of women born in the dry season (40 ± 4.31 years) was lower than for those born in the rainy season (45 ± 4.89 years)
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