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Research shows early bone growth linked to bone density later in life
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A study published in Osteoporosis International shows that growth in early childhood can affect bone density in adult life, which could lead to an increased risk for the development of bone diseases like osteoporosis.
Researchers from the University of Southampton, in collaboration with a research group in Delhi, India, studied the relationship between height and body mass index (BMI) during childhood and with bone mass density in adulthood.
The study, which was led by Professor Caroline Fall of the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton and funded by the British Heart Foundation, examined the relationship between bone mass and density at the lumbar spine, femoral neck and forearm and birth size and childhood weight and height growth in 565 men and women from the New Delhi Birth Cohort.
The results showed that size at birth and height growth during early childhood contribute significantly to adult bone mass, while BMI in later childhood was positively related to adult bone density. The findings suggest that nutrition in childhood is an important determinant of adult bone health and in the prevention of developing bone diseases like osteoporosis.
“The risk of osteoporotic fractures depends on two factors: the mechanical strength of bone and the forces applied to it. We know that the bone mass is an established determinant of bone strength and adult bone mass depends upon the peak attained during skeletal growth and the subsequent rate of bone loss,” Fall stated in a press release. “Peak bone mass is partly inherited, but environmental and lifestyle factors do play a part, too. If we can improve childhood nutrition and that of the mother while pregnant, the risk of bone disease in later life can be reduced.”
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