Early menopause, cause for concern in India

Bangalore, Feb 4 (UNI) Menopause is emerging as a major health scourge in India with an alarming 18 per cent of women in the 30 to 49 age group attaining the non-reproductive age prematurely.

Illiteracy among women, young age marriages and early child- bearing with poor nutritional levels have been cited as reasons for premature menopause, which might continue to be a burden in the future, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Change.

The study revealed that at least 11 per cent of Indian women of less than 40 years have attained menopause. The situation is grim in Andhra Pradesh (31.4 per cent), Bihar (21.7), Karnataka (20.2) and Gujarat (19.9). However, their counterparts in Kerala (11.6), West Bengal (12.8) and Rajasthan (13.1) go through the transition at a relatively old age.

With agricultural labourers (20.1 per cent) and domestic and manual workers (16.2) reporting high incidences of early menopause, it was clear that women from poor socio-economic background reached menopause earlier than their wealthy counterparts.

A study of 90,000 ever-married women aged 15-49 conducted under the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in three phases since 1992-93, covering 99 per cent of the Indian population living in 26 states, proved that women indeed reached the non-reproductive stage at an early age of 30. The higher risk rate was reported in rural areas.

''The findings are alarming since the study showed that India has become the only country in the world where early menopause was reported. Natural menopause occurs between 45 and 55 years, with a mean age of incidence around 51 years worldwide. In India, the mean age of menopause is 44 years,'' Ms M Sivakami, Assitant Professor of the Institute of Social and Economic Changes here, told UNI