Sustained effect of short-term calcium supplementation on bone mass in adolescent girls with low calcium intake.
BACKGROUND
The effect of short-term calcium supplementation on peak bone mass in adolescent girls is not completely defined. In our previous double-blind, placebo-controlled, calcium-supplementation study (1000 mg calcium carbonate/d), we showed that calcium supplementation of postmenarcheal girls with low calcium intakes enhances bone mineral acquisition.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this follow-up study, conducted 3.5 y after the end of calcium supplementation, was to investigate the sustained effect of calcium supplementation on bone mineral mass.


METHODS
Anthropometric data, nutrient intakes, and bone variables were reassessed in 96 of the 100 adolescent girls whose data had been studied at the end of the supplementation period. Bone mineral content and bone mineral density (BMD) of the total body, lumbar spine, and femoral neck were determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.


RESULTS
The calcium-supplemented group tended to have a greater accretion of total-body BMD (TBBMD) than did the control group 3.5 y after the end of supplementation. The finding was statistically significant in the active-treatment cohort (n = 17 in the calcium-supplemented group and 28 in the placebo group), who had a compliance rate of > or =75% during the intervention study. In a multivariate linear-regression analysis, TBBMD accretion from the beginning of the intervention study to the follow-up study in the active-treatment cohort was attributed to calcium supplementation and to the time since inclusion in the initial study.


CONCLUSIONS
Calcium supplementation for 1 y in postmenarcheal girls with low calcium intakes may provide a sustained effect on the basis of TBBMD measurements in participants with compliance rates of > or =75%.
Dodiuk-Gad
Roni P
RP
Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Rozen
Geila S
GS
Rennert
Gad
G
Rennert
Hedy S
HS
Ish-Shalom
Sophia
S
D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects*; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans
D002136:Calcium, Dietary; D002118:Calcium