Table 3 Participant demographics

Participants	Interviewees	Caste/ethnic group	District/municipality	Ward#	Religion	Age	Level of education	Home of origin	Age of post-menarche adolescent	Cohabitation status
Family 1	Grandmother 1	Brahmin/Chhetri1)	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	60	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura	13	Living together
	Mother 1	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	31	Bachelor and above	Bajura
Family 2	Grandmother 2	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	58	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura	17	Living together
	Mother 2	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	38	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura
Family 3	Grandmother 3	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	38	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura	14	Living separately
	Mother 3	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	42	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura
Family 4	Grandmother 4	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	62	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura	13	Living separately
	Mother 4	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	41	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura
Family 5	Grandmother 5	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	68	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura	17	Living separately
	Mother 5	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	41	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura
Family 6	Grandmother 6	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	9	Hindu	Mid-60s	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura	16	Living separately
	Mother 6	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	9	Hindu	34	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura
Family 7	Grandmother 7	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	80	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura	17	Living separately
	Mother 7	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	50	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura
Family 8	Grandmother 8	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	53	Illiterate/non-formal education	Bajura	16	Living separately
	Mother82)	Brahmin/Chhetri	Bajura/Badimalika	8	Hindu	24	Secondary leave	Bajura

Note: One participant did not report their age..
While Brahmin and Chhetri are practically different castes, when it comes to cultural practices, Brahmin and Chhetri follow the same rule. Accordingly, in every cultural studies in Nepal, participants are asked whether they are Brahmin/Chhetri or the other castes (e.g., Newar, Janajati, Gurung, Sherpa or Dalit). Likewise, while the other castes can be differentiated by the local participants’ surname, Brahmin and Chhetri could not be differentiated with their surname.
Mother 8 is the foster mother of the menstruating girl, whose mother left her when she was a child. Except for mother 8, all the other mother participated to the study was the birth-mother of the menstruating adolescent girls.