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Effects of Habitual Physical Activity and Fitness on Tibial Cortical Bone Mass, Structure and Mass Distribution in Pre-pubertal Boys and Girls: The Look Study

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Abstract

Targeted weight-bearing activities during the pre-pubertal years can improve cortical bone mass, structure and distribution, but less is known about the influence of habitual physical activity (PA) and fitness. This study examined the effects of contrasting habitual PA and fitness levels on cortical bone density, geometry and mass distribution in pre-pubertal children. Boys (n = 241) and girls (n = 245) aged 7–9 years had a pQCT scan to measure tibial mid-shaft total, cortical and medullary area, cortical thickness, density, polar strength strain index (SSIpolar) and the mass/density distribution through the bone cortex (radial distribution divided into endo-, mid- and pericortical regions) and around the centre of mass (polar distribution). Four contrasting PA and fitness groups (inactive–unfit, inactive–fit, active–unfit, active–fit) were generated based on daily step counts (pedometer, 7-days) and fitness levels (20-m shuttle test and vertical jump) for boys and girls separately. Active-fit boys had 7.3–7.7 % greater cortical area and thickness compared to inactive–unfit boys (P < 0.05), which was largely due to a 6.4–7.8 % (P < 0.05) greater cortical mass in the posterior–lateral, medial and posterior–medial 66 % tibial regions. Cortical area was not significantly different across PA-fitness categories in girls, but active-fit girls had 6.1 % (P < 0.05) greater SSIpolar compared to inactive–fit girls, which was likely due to their 6.7 % (P < 0.05) greater total bone area. There was also a small region-specific cortical mass benefit in the posterior–medial 66 % tibia cortex in active-fit girls. Higher levels of habitual PA-fitness were associated with small regional-specific gains in 66 % tibial cortical bone mass in pre-pubertal children, particularly boys.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Commonwealth Education Trust (London, UK) and the Canberra Hospital Salaried Staff Specialists Private Practice Fund (Canberra).

Authors Contribution

Study design RMD, RDT and GD; Study Conduct: RMD, RDT, GD, BH, RMT; Data Analysis: RLD, RMD, RT; Data Interpretation: RLD, RMD, RT; Drafting Manuscript: RLD and RMD; Revising manuscript content and approving final version of the manuscript: all authors. RMD takes responsibility for the integrity of the data analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Melbourne, VIC, 3125, Australia

    Rachel L. Duckham, Timo Rantalainen, Gaele Ducher & Robin M. Daly

  2. School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

    Briony Hill

  3. UC Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

    Richard D. Telford & Rohan M. Telford

  4. College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Richard D. Telford

Authors
  1. Rachel L. Duckham
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  2. Timo Rantalainen
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  3. Gaele Ducher
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  4. Briony Hill
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  5. Richard D. Telford
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  6. Rohan M. Telford
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  7. Robin M. Daly
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel L. Duckham.

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Conflict of Interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

The study received ethical approval from the ACT Department of Education and Training, the Australian Institute of Sport Ethics Committee, the ACT Health Committee for Ethics in Human Research and the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee. Assent was obtained from each child and informed written consent was obtained from each parent or legal guardian prior to study participation.

Electronic Supplementary Material

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Supplementary Table 1

Correlations showing the relationship between PA and the various fitness measures with the bone traits in boys (a) and girls (b). Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 148 kb)

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Duckham, R.L., Rantalainen, T., Ducher, G. et al. Effects of Habitual Physical Activity and Fitness on Tibial Cortical Bone Mass, Structure and Mass Distribution in Pre-pubertal Boys and Girls: The Look Study. Calcif Tissue Int 99, 56–65 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-016-0128-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-016-0128-4

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