title: Bone mineral content in normal and malnourished children.
abstract: Bone mineral content (BMC) was determined at the distal radius in 70 children aged 2-14 years; Group I comprising 34 normal healthy children and Group II 36 malnourished children by the method of single photon absorptiometry. The mean value of BMC in Group I was 0.3 +/- 0.04 g/cm in 2-5 year, 0.52 +/- 0.08 g/cm in 6-10 year and 0.77 +/- 0.88 g/cm in 11-14 year age groups. No significant difference in the BMC was seen between boys and girls. An increase of BMC corresponded to growth spurts in 2-5 year and 11-14 year age groups. There was a significant reduction of BMC in Group II and in grade III malnutrition in 2-5 year and 11-14 year age groups as compared to Group I children. The study provides normal BMC data for Indian children and suggests that this can help to detect undemineralization of bones in malnourished children during the growth periods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, J.L.N. Medical College, Ajmer.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
authors.forename: O P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Choudhary
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015519:Bone Density; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016011:Normal Distribution; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012016:Reference Values