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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Obesity and Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #213103
Title: Bone Mineral and Predictors of Bone Mass in White, Hispanic, and Asian Early Pubertal Girls

Author
item WEAVER, CONNIE - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item MCCABE, LINDA - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item MCCABE, GEORGE - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item NOVOTNY, RACHEL - UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
item Van Loan, Marta
item GOING, SCOTT - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
item MATKOVIC, VELAMIR - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item BOUSHEY, CAROL - PURDUE UNIVERSITY
item SAVAIANO, DENNIS - PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Osteoporosis International
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/3/2007
Publication Date: 11/5/2007
Citation: Weaver, C.M., Mccabe, L.D., Mccabe, G.M., Novotny, R., Van Loan, M.D., Going, S., Matkovic, V., Boushey, C., Savaiano, D.A. 2007. Bone Mineral and Predictors of Bone Mass in White, Hispanic, and Asian Early Pubertal Girls. Osteoporosis International. Springer Science+Business Media, Calcif Tissue Int. 81:352-363

Interpretive Summary: Research data have suggested that body size and racial background are important influences on bone development. Studies on bone development in different racial groups have examined bone density over a large age range and over different maturation levels. Therefore, the examination of bone development using a large group of girls at similar maturation levels and across 3 racial groups can provide insight into the bone development at a relatively young age. We examined bone mass in a group of 748 pubertal girls of Asian, Hispanic and Caucasian background. We found that differences in bone mass of the whole body, spine, forearm and hip across the racial groups could be explained by differences in, the width of the bones, sexual maturation, physical activity level, and calcium intake from dairy foods. These results confirm that girls of the same age, but with larger skeletons, more advanced maturation, more physical activity, and more consumption of dairy foods have greater bone mass.

Technical Abstract: Introduction: Racial differences in body size have been suggested to explain racial differences in bone in black and white youth. Previous studies of nonblack racial differences during growth used small cohorts spread over a large developmental age and cannot adequately address this question. Materials and Methods: To determine ethnic/racial differences and predictors of bone mass in early pubertal girls, we measured bone mineral content (BMC) in white, Hispanic, and Asian 6th grade girls across six states. We developed models for predicting bone mineral content (BMC) for the whole body, distal radius, total hip, and lumbar spine for 748 subjects. Results: For each of the bone sites, the corresponding area from DXA, or anthropometric predictors of bone area, was a strong predictor of BMC with correlations ranging from 0.78 to 0.98, confirming that larger subjects have more BMC. For total body, distal radius, lumbar spine and total hip BMC, ethnic/racial differences were explained by differences in bone area, sexual maturity, physical activity, and dairy calcium intake. Conclusions: Bone size explained most of racial/ethnic differences in BMC, but lifestyle choices were also significant predictors of BMC.