Poor nutrition in prepubertal Japanese children at the end of World War II suppressed bone development.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the extent to which malnutrition in childhood affects bone mineral density (BMD) decades later.


METHODS
BMDs were compared in healthy women (35-59 years old) who visited our hospital for annual examinations between 1992 and 1993 (group 1) and between 1999 and 2002 (group 2).


RESULTS
The BMDs of 50- to 54-year-old women in group 1 averaged 0.86+/-0.15 g/cm2, which was significantly (p<0.001) lower than age-matched women in group 2 (1.02+/-0.16 g/cm2).


CONCLUSIONS
At the end of World War II (1945) undernutrition was rampant throughout Japan, and there were unprecedented numbers of cases of malnutrition. BMD was lower in women who experienced those conditions while they were 5 years old in average, a time when rapid skeletal growth was beginning. Thus, nutrition in childhood is a particularly crucial determinant of lifelong bone health.
Yoshimura
Toshihiro
T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kumamoto Rosai Hospital, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto 866-8533, Japan. t-yoshimura@hosp.kumamoto.west.ntt.co.jp
Tohya
Toshimitsu
T
Onoda
Chikashi
C
Okamura
Hitoshi
H
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D015519:Bone Density; D001846:Bone Development; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D011627:Puberty; D047789:World War II