Is there a weight girls need to be to start periods?

[LynetteScavo]

I think I read that on MN once...

Do girls generally start younger than their mothers did? Is that just because girls tend to be heavier than previous generations?

Interesting... I was a fairly scrawny teenager and was 15 when I started my periods.

DD is physically very similar build so I'm wondering whether she will be the same? (Only 8 at the mo)

I believe it's five and a half stone as the trigger, but everyone varies slightly.

I have heard that overweight girls are more likely to start earlier. However, I was quite big as a teenager and started at 15. My sister is very tiny for her age, she's 14 and not yet started. I think it just depends!

My DD was 11 and probably not much more than 5 stone. Although started to get hips and breasts beforehand just very very slim.

I was 10 and similar weight/build

I was 14 and size 8, DD was 12 in in age 11-12 clothes.

My dd was 10 and 4st7,I was 12 and 5st2

I don't think it's weight as an absolute, but % body fat, as fat is involved in the oestrogen cycle.

Which is why athletes can be late to start or experience their periods stopping.

Also why overweight girls tend to start early.

I was a month shy of 13. At least 7.5 stone and 5'5.

My mum was the same age but 2 inches shorter.

In simplistic terms you need to be heavy enough/the right type of body fat to carry a baby to term.

So it's going to be different for everyone.

I was small (5 foot) and slim when I started mine at the age of 10 (nearly 11) in the 70s. Early puberty runs in my family though and I was showing other signs. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule.

I always thought it was just genetic? Both me and my mum started at 9. I was overweight, my mum was quite slim.

I knew a skinny, spindly little girl who started hers at 9. Sure she wasn't the norm though!

A lot of people say 7 stone.
Heck if I know.

I was a chubby teen and started at 14. My sister was skinny until puberty hit and started at 12.

I always thought it was around 7and a half stone. I heard it on a documentary or something years ago and it stuck with me. No idea if it's true!

I always thought 7 stone. Had this discussion with 10yo DD this evening, she managed to get red face paint in her knickers and thought she'd started. She is just over 5 stone and very lean, no breast development or hair sprouting yet. We weighed her and talked about meeting the weight requirement just to set her mind at rest for a while

My dd1 started at 12 so did i, but did 2 was later at 14 but aN athletic girl so much lower % of fat

My DD was 12 a size 4 - 6 and weighed about 7.5 stone. She was 5'3.

I was 14 when I started and have always been tall and thin.

DD was 12 and a half and started out of the blue. Weighed about 5 and a half stone, petite, skinny, no sign of any development. As she put it herself "no boobs or fur".
I think we are all different and they start when they are at the right stage of development for themselves as individuals. DD still wears age 9 to 10 pants even now at 15 and carries very little fat anywhere on her.
I really don't think there is a general rule regarding what weight a girl needs to be to start her periods.