title: Maintenance of body weight, physical activity and calcium intake helps preserve bone mass in elderly women.
abstract: This prospective study focused on lifestyle factors and weight maintenance that may modulate the rate of bone loss at the weight-bearing proximal femur and non-weight-bearing distal radius in elderly women. Altogether 128 women of 134 subjects participated in this study with a mean follow-up time 3.9 years (range 2.9-5.3 years). The initially 60- to 65-year-old subjects were originally selected by their level of physical activity [high (PA+) and low (PA-)] and calcium intake [high (Ca+) and low (Ca-)], and the original groups were maintained in this study. Physical fitness and bone mineral content (BMC) decreased significantly at a similar rate in all four study groups without any statistically significant between-group difference. The mean change in the muscle strength of leg extensors was -3.3% (95% CI -5% to -1.5%) at follow-up when including all individuals. The leg extension strength was still 9.2% (95% CI 2.7% to 16.1%) better in the PA+ groups compared with PA- groups at follow-up. The mean change in the forearm flexion strength was -14% (95% CI -16.5% to -11.3%) at follow-up with no difference in the strength level between PA+ and PA- groups. The mean change in the estimated oxygen uptake was -3.4% (95% CI -5.6% to -1.1%) at follow-up. The PA+ groups were still fitter, the between-group difference in the estimated oxygen uptake being 11.9% (95% CI 4.8% to 19.5%). The mean changes in BMC at follow-up were -2.1% (95% CI -3.0% to -1.2%) at the femoral neck, -1.9% (95% CI -3.2% to -0.5%) at the trochanter, and -12.4% (95% CI -15.4% to -9.4%) at the distal radius, indicating mean annual losses of 0.6% (95% CI 0.3% to 0.8%), 0.5% (95% CI 0.1% to 0.8%), and 3.2% (95% CI 2.4% to 4.0%), respectively. Decreased body weight was associated with higher bone loss in all measured bone sites. High calcium intake and better preservation of physical fitness were associated with a smaller decrease in femoral neck BMC.
authors.affiliation: UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, PO Box 30, FIN-33501 Tampere, Finland. mekiuu@uta.fi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uusi-Rasi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sievänen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pasanen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oja
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vuori
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000502:physiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011884:Radius / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002136:Calcium, Dietary