Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Growth in bone and body size among Asian and white girls in the Female Adolescent Maturation (FAM) study

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
Archives of Osteoporosis Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Summary

Rationale: This study intends to identify differences in growth of Asian and White girls. Main result: Asian girls gained bone at similar rates to White girls. Physical activity was important to bone growth. Ethnic differences remained after adjusting for physical activity, demographics, and diet. Significance: Physical activity can improve bone gain.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine differences in body size and bone growth of Asian, White, and Asian-White Mixed girls.

Methods

Three prospective examinations of 99 Asian, 73 White, and 63 Mixed Asian and White girls, with a mean age of 11.0 years at enrollment were performed. Calcaneal bone mass, skeletal breadths, and body fat were measured. Physical activity, diet, and birth size were reported. The analyses examined the extent that body dimensions and bone size changed over time by demographic, diet, physical activity, body, and bone size parameters.

Results

White children were the most physically active yet had lower calcaneal ultrasound values for speed of sound (SOS). Based on regression models, bone mass, and subscapular skinfold thickness were greater in Asian girls compared to White and Asian-White Mixed girls at age 10 years. Asian-White Mixed girls had greater BMI compared to Asian or White girls. Asian girls gained body size more slowly than White girls, but changes in bone parameters did not differ significantly; Asian-White Mixed girls gained abdomen, hip, and weight more slowly than White girls. Among all girls, SOS and broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) increased significantly by level of physical activity before 12 years, but not after.

Conclusions

Asian girls had more upper body (subscapular) fat at age 10 years and gained height and hip and abdomen circumferences more slowly than Asian-White and White girls. Asian girls had greater bone SOS and BUA at age 10 years but gained bone at similar rates to White girls. Physical activity was especially important to bone growth before age 12 years. However, ethnic differences remained after adjusting for physical activity, demographic, and dietary factors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  1. Bishop N, Arundel P, Clarke E et al (2014) Fracture prediction and the definition of osteoporosis in children and adolescents: the ISCD 2013 pediatric official positions. J Clin Densitom 17(2):275–280

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Lee M, Nahhas RW, Choh AC, Demerath EW, Duren DL, Chumlea WC, Sherwood RJ, Towne B, Siervogel RM, Czerwinski SA (2011) Longitudinal changes in calcaneal quantitative ultrasound measures during childhood. Osteoporos Int 22:2295–2305. doi:10.1007/s00198-010-1458-0

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Aaron D, Kriska A, Dearwater S, Cauley J, Metz K, LaPorte R (1995) Reproducibility and validity of an epidemiologic questionnaire to assess past year physical activity in adolescents. Am J Epidemiol 142:191–201

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Leon AS, Jacobs DRJ, Montoye HJ, Sallis JF et al (1993) Compendium of physical activities: classification of energy costs of human physical activities. Med Sci Sports Exerc 25:71–80

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Novotny R, Vijayadeva V, Grove J, Lim U, Le Marchand L (2013) Birth size and later central obesity among adolescent girls of Asian, White, and Mixed ethnicities. Hawaii J Med Public Health 72(2):50–55

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Novotny R, Daida YG (2009) Mixed race/ethnicity assessment using the BLEND method. Hawaii J Med Public Health 2(1):1–6

    Google Scholar 

  7. Tanner JM (1962) Growth at adolescence, 2nd edn. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  8. Enders CK (2010) Applied missing data analysis. Guilford, New York

    Google Scholar 

  9. Hoffmeister BK, Whitten SA, Kaste SC, Rho JY (2002) Effect of collagen and mineral content on the high-frequency ultrasonic properties of human cancellous bone. Osteoporos Int 13:26–32

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Hadji P, Gottschalk M, Ziller M, Kalder M, Jackisch C, Wagner U (2007) Bone mass and the risk of breast cancer: the influence of cumulative exposure to oestrogen and reproductive correlates. Results from the Marburg breast cancer and osteoporosis trial. Maturitas 56(3):312–321

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Litwic A, Edwards M, Cooper C, Dennison D (2012) Geographic differences in fractures among women. Womens Health 8(6):673–684. doi:10.2217/whe.12.54

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sayers A, Lawlor DA, Sattar N, Tobias JH (2012) The association between insulin levels and cortical bone: findings from a cross-sectional analysis of pQCT parameters in adolescents. J Bone Miner Res 27(3):610–618. doi:10.1002/jbmr.1467, Published online Nov 16, 2011

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Osborne DL, Weaver CM, McCabe LD, McCabe GM, Novotny R, Van Loan MD, Going S, Matkovic V, Boushey CA, Savaiano DA, ACT research team (2012) Body size and pubertal development explain ethnic differences in structural geometry at the femur in Asian, Hispanic, and white early adolescent girls living in the U.S. Bone. 51(5): 888–895. doi:10.1016/j.bone.2012.08.125

Download references

Acknowledgments

Rachel Novotny designed the study, acquired, and interpreted the data. She drafted the manuscript, approved the final version and is accountable for the work. James Davis analyzed the data, participated in drafting and revising it for intellectual content, and approved the final version and is accountable for the work. The authors accept responsibility for the integrity of the analysis. Rachel Novotny is the corresponding author. Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research Hawaii was a partner in the research. Loic LeMarchand of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center was Co-PI on the third FAM examination. The work was partially supported by grants from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities U54MD007584, G12MD007601, and P20GM103466 from the National Institutes of Health. This work was also supported by the Breast Cancer Research Fund of the US Department of Defense [BC032028] and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center Developmental Funds and the Research Centers of Minority Institutions at the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health [P20 RR119091] and the National Research Initiative of the US Department of Agriculture [99–00700].

Conflicts of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1955 East West Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Rachel Novotny & James Davis

Authors
  1. Rachel Novotny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James Davis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel Novotny.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Novotny, R., Davis, J. Growth in bone and body size among Asian and white girls in the Female Adolescent Maturation (FAM) study. Arch Osteoporos 10, 31 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-015-0234-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-015-0234-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation