Fruit and vegetable intake and bone mass in Chinese adolescents, young and postmenopausal women.
OBJECTIVE
Previous studies showed an inconsistent association of fruit and vegetable consumption with bone health. We assessed the associations in Chinese adolescents, young and postmenopausal women.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study conducted in China during July 2009 to May 2010.


METHODS
Bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) at the whole body, lumbar spine and left hip were measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Dietary intakes were assessed using an FFQ. All these values were separately standardized into Z-scores in each population subgroup.


METHODS
One hundred and ten boys and 112 girls (11-14 years), 371 young women (20-34 years, postpartum within 2 weeks) and 333 postmenopausal women (50-70 years).


RESULTS
After adjustment for potential covariates, analysis of covariance showed a significantly positive association between fruit intake and BMD and BMC in all participants combined (P-trend: < 0.001 to 0.002). BMD Z-score increased by 0.25 (or 2.1 % of the mean), 0.22 (3.5 %), 0.23 (3.0 %) and 0.25 (3.5 %), and BMC Z-score increased by 0.33 (5.7 %), 0.25 (5.8 %), 0.34 (5.9 %) and 0.29 (4.7 %), at the total body, lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck in participants belonging to the top tertile compared with the bottom tertile of fruit intake (all P < 0.05), respectively. There was no significant association between vegetable intake and bone mass at all bone sites studied except for total body BMD (P = 0.030). Relatively more pronounced effects were observed in boys and postmenopausal women.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings add to the existing evidence that fruits and vegetables may have a bone sparing effect.
Department of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Food, Nutrition and Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, People's Republic of China.
Jing-Jing
JJ
Li
Zhen-Wu
ZW
Huang
Ruo-Qin
RQ
Wang
Xiao-Ming
XM
Ma
Zhe-Qing
ZQ
Zhang
Zen
Z
Liu
Yu-Ming
YM
Chen
Yi-Xiang
YX
Su
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015519:Bone Density; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D008517:Phytotherapy; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017698:Postmenopause; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables; D055815:Young Adult
D028321:Plant Preparations