Abstract
Purpose
Fish is a source of various nutrients beneficial for bone health, but few studies have investigated the association between bone mineral density (BMD) and fish consumption. Thus, the aim was to investigate the relationship between total fish intake and BMD and between both lean and fatty fish intake and BMD.
Method
These cross-sectional analyses include 4656 participants in the Hordaland Health Study, a community-based study conducted in 1997–1999. The study includes two birth cohorts of men and women from Hordaland county (Norway) born in 1950–1951 and 1925–1927. BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and dietary intake was obtained from a semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire.
Results
The average total fish intake was 33 ± 18 g/1000 kcal and was primarily lean fish. Older women had significantly lower BMD than older men and middle-aged men and women. In older women, total and lean fish intake (50 g/1000 kcal) was significantly and positively associated with BMD also after multivariate adjustments (β-coefficient 0.018, p = 0.017 and 0.026, p = 0.021).
Conclusion
A high intake of fish, in particular lean fish, was positively associated with BMD in older women. No association between intake of fatty fish and BMD was found in either of the age and sex groups.
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Abbreviations
- BMD:
-
Bone mineral density
- DHA:
-
Docosahexaenoic acid
- DPA:
-
Docosapentaenoic acid
- DXA:
-
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
- EPA:
-
Eicosapentaenoic acid
- FFQ:
-
Food-frequency questionnaire
- HUSK:
-
Hordaland Health Study
- NNR 2012:
-
Nordic Nutritional Recommendation 2012
- n3 PUFA:
-
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
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Acknowledgements
The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF) supported this work through fellowship funding the primary author. The funder had no role in the study design, analysis or interpretation of data, or in the writing of the manuscript.
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HUSK was performed according to the declaration of Helsinki and all participants provided written informed consent. The study protocol was approved by the Data Inspectorate and the Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics.
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Rosendahl-Riise, H., Karlsson, T., Drevon, C.A. et al. Total and lean fish intake is positively associated with bone mineral density in older women in the community-based Hordaland Health Study. Eur J Nutr 58, 1403–1413 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-018-1665-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-018-1665-6