The Association between Weight, Physical Activity, and Stress and Variation in the Length of the Menstrual Cycle
Abstract
The association between weight, physical activity, and stress and variation in the length of the menstrual cycle was prospectively examined in 166 college women, aged 17-19 years, who kept menstrual diaries during their freshman year. The unadjusted probability of a menstrual cycle being longer than 43 days was 5%. Women with a history of long cycles were more likely to have a long cycle during the study (odds ratio (OR) = 4.3). Stressors, characterized by situations which create a demand for performance or require adjustments to new demands, also increased the risk of a long cycle. Odds ratios for gain events and for coping with multiple performance demands (2 vs. 0) were 1.9. Starting college increased the risk of long cycles (OR = 2.3) regardless of whether a woman had left home. Moderate exercise minimally increased the probability of a long cycle (OR = 1.1, 75th vs. 50th percentiles). Change in weight (OR = 1.9) and being overweight (OR = 1.2, 15% above standard weight for height) were independently associated with the probability of long cycles. When 17- to 43-day cycles were evaluated, a history of long cycles lengthened expected cycle length by 1.42 days, while dieting, living on campus, and starting college tended to shorten expected length by 1.38, 0.90, and 0.64 days, respectively. Further investigation of the biologic mechanisms that mediate the stress effect is warranted.
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Cycle characteristics may be affected by ethnicity, high body mass index, stress and lifestyle factors.
“Cycle characteristics also may be affected by ethnicity, high body mass index (BMI), stress and lifestyle factors.8,10–12”
From Real-world menstrual cycle characteristics of more than 600,000 menstrual cycles (2019) · cites this paper as [11]
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“[22] Stress, has consistently been associated with variation in the length and duration of the menstrual cycle,[16] anovulation[10] and amount of menstrual bleeding.”
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Gold, E. B., Eskenazi, B., Lasley, B. L., Samuels, S. J., Rasor, M. O., Overstreet, J. W., & Schenker, M. B. (1995) · American Journal of Industrial Medicine · doi:10.1002/ajim.4700280612 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Yaw, A. M., McLane-Svoboda, A. K., & Hoffmann, H. M. (2020) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms22010324 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“Indeed, some shiftwork studies have noted a correlation between increased stress and menstrual abnormalities, such as delayed menstruation [8].”
BackgroundA missing piece: the spiny mouse and the puzzle of menstruating species
Bellofiore, N., Cousins, F. L., Temple-Smith, P. D., Dickinson, H., & Evans, J. (2018) · Journal of Molecular Endocrinology · doi:10.1530/jme-17-0278 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Schneider, M., Fisher, M., Friedman, S. B., et al. (1999) · Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology · doi:10.1016/s1083-3188(99)00025-x · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Mena, G., Mielke, G., & Brown, W. (2021) · Human Reproduction · doi:10.1093/humrep/deab055 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
The Use of Urinary Hormonal Assessments in Human Studies
Lasley, B. L., Mobed, K., & Gold, E. (1994) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1994.tb30418.x · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Recovery of menses after functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea: if, when and why
Pape, J., Herbison, A. E., & Leeners, B. (2020) · Human Reproduction Update · doi:10.1093/humupd/dmaa032 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Perimenstrual symptoms and working conditions among hospital workers in quebec
Tissot, F., & Messing, K. (1995) · American Journal of Industrial Medicine · doi:10.1002/ajim.4700270405 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Is body mass index associated with irregular menstruation: a questionnaire study?
Tang, Y., Chen, Y., Feng, H., et al. (2020) · BMC Women s Health · doi:10.1186/s12905-020-01085-4 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Menstrual cycle length and modern living: a review
Campbell, L. R., Scalise, A. L., DiBenedictis, B. T., et al. (2021) · Current Opinion in Endocrinology Diabetes and Obesity · doi:10.1097/med.0000000000000681 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“Researchers have previously proposed that some factors affect MCL more dramatically in individuals predisposed to shorter or longer cycles, therefore, complicating the ability to draw broad conclusions about how a given factor affects an entire population [56].”
BackgroundWorking conditions associated with ovarian cycle in a medical center nurses: A Taiwan study
Wan, G., & Chung, F.-F. (2011) · Japan Journal of Nursing Science · doi:10.1111/j.1742-7924.2011.00191.x · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Kishi, R., Kitahara, T., Masuchi, A., et al. (2002) · Industrial Health · doi:10.2486/indhealth.40.101 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Poor Correlation of Stress Levels and Menstrual Patterns among Medical Students
Sood, M., Devi, A., Daher, A. A. M., et al. (2017) · Journal of ASIAN Behavioural Studies · doi:10.21834/jabs.v2i5.221 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
“In contrast, other studies reported that stress score is a predictor for irregular menstrual cycle (Harlow & Matanoski, 1991)8.”
ResultAnthropometric factors and the risk of premenopausal breast cancer in Germany
Verla‐Tebit, E., & Chang-Claude, J. C. (2005) · European Journal of Cancer Prevention · doi:10.1097/00008469-200508000-00016 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“Overweight young women, however, have been found to have longer menstrual cycles (Harlow and Matanoski, 1991) and hence spend less of their menstrual life in the luteal phase, possibly contributing to the reduction in breast cancer risk in these individuals.”
BackgroundEffects of metallic mercury on the perimenstrual symptoms and menstrual outcomes of exposed workers
Yang, J., Chen, Q., & Jiang, X. (2002) · American Journal of Industrial Medicine · doi:10.1002/ajim.10130 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Job strain and time to pregnancy
Hjollund, N., Jensen, T. K., Bonde, J., Henriksen, T. B., Kolstad, H. A., Andersson, A., Ernst, E., Giwercman, A., Skakkebæk, N. E., & Olsen, J. (1998) · Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & Health · doi:10.5271/sjweh.354 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
“In the field of human reproduction this model has been used in studies of various end points, such as menstrual cycle pattern, spontaneous abortion, birthweight, and gestational age (2-6).”
Method
- Authors
- Harlow, S. D., & Matanoski, G. M.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Venue
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1991-01-01
- Volume
- 133
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 38-49
- ISSN
- 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-6256
- OpenAlex
- W2129586456
- Cited by
- 208
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 5.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Menstrual Health and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Ovarian function and disorders
- Keywords
- menstrual cycle length, weight change, physical activity, stress, female university students, dieting, transition to college, performance requirements, coping
- MeSH terms
- Body Weight, Physical Exertion, Female, Humans, Menstrual Cycle, Prospective Studies, Stress, Physiological, Time Factors
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
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