The age at which girls start menstruating could flag a later risk of diabetes during pregnancy, according to a University of Queensland study The age at which girls start menstruating could flag a later risk of diabetes during pregnancy, according to a University of Queensland study UQ School of Public Health researchers analysed data from more than 4700 women from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health and found a higher number of women who reported having their first period at a younger age had later developed gestational diabetes.