title: Centrally located body fat is associated with lower bone mineral density in older Puerto Rican adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fat mass is thought to be protective against osteoporosis, primarily because of its weight-bearing effect. Few studies have evaluated the association between abdominal fat mass (AFM) and bone health beyond its weight-bearing effect.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We tested the hypothesis that higher body weight-adjusted AFM is associated with poor bone health.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted in 629 Puerto Rican adults aged 47-79 y. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral neck, trochanter, total femur, and lumbar spine (L2-L4) were measured by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). AFM and total fat mass (TFM) were assessed by using body-composition software from whole-body DXA scans. Osteoporosis and osteopenia were defined as T-scores ≤ -2.5 and -1.0 to -2.5 SD, respectively, at the respective bone site.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After confounders were controlled for, body weight-adjusted AFM was inversely associated with BMD at all 4 bone sites in women and at the femoral neck in men. For TFM, small inverse associations were seen at the trochanter and total femur in women. In men, similar associations were seen at the 3 femur sites. In both sexes, the odds for osteoporosis or osteopenia at each of the femoral sites increased by 10-16% for every 100-g increase in body weight-adjusted AFM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher AFM was associated with poor bone health in this Puerto Rican sample. Efforts to reduce abdominal obesity will not only reduce the risk of chronic disease but may also improve bone health. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01231958.
authors.affiliation: Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Shilpa N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Bhupathiraju
authors.forename: Bess
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dawson-Hughes
authors.forename: Marian T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Hannan
authors.forename: Alice H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Lichtenstein
authors.forename: Katherine L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Tucker
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology*; D050154:Adiposity; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015519:Bone Density; D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology*; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors