The differential relationship between fat mass and bone mineral density by gender and menopausal status

Hye Jin Yoo, Man Sik Park, Sae Jeong Yang, Tae Nyun Kim, Kang Il Lim, Hyun Joo Kang, Wook Song, Sei Hyun Baik, Dong Seop Choi, Kyung Mook Choi

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    61 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Osteoporosis and obesity are important public health problems in an aging society. We investigated the differential impacts of fat on bone mineral density (BMD) according to gender and menopausal status. We analyzed the baseline data of an ongoing observational cohort study, including a total of 502 healthy subjects 20-88 years of age (144 men, 159 premenopausal women, 199 postmenopausal women). Body composition and fat mass were measured using computed tomography and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). BMD was measured at lumbar spines using DXA. In men and postmenopausal women, there was no significant correlation between fat and bone parameters after adjusting for age and body weight. However, in premenopausal women, BMD had significant negative correlations with waist circumference, total fat area, subcutaneous fat area, appendicular fat mass and percentage fat mass after adjusting for age and body weight. Furthermore, only in premenopausal women, the subjects with the highest quartile of percentage fat mass had the lowest BMD even after adjusting for confounding factors including age, body weight, physical activity, alcohol use and smoking history. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that percentage fat mass was a significant negative decisive factor for BMD in premenopausal women. Our study showed the differential relationship between fat mass and BMD according to gender and menopausal status. Only in premenopausal women did fat mass have a significant negative effect on bone mass. This result suggests the importance of reducing fat mass in order to achieve peak bone mass in young adult women.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)47-53
    Number of pages7
    JournalJournal of Bone and Mineral Metabolism
    Volume30
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2012 Jan

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    Dr. K.M. Choi was supported by the Mid-Career Researcher Program through an NRF grant funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology and by the Korean government (No. R01-2007-000-20546-0). Dr. K.M. Choi and Dr. S.H. Baik were supported by the Brain Korea 21 Project of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, Republic of Korea (A102065-1011-1070100).

    Keywords

    • Fat mass
    • Menopause
    • Osteoporosis

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
    • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
    • Endocrinology

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