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Bone status of adolescent girls in Pune (India) compared to age-matched South Asian and white Caucasian girls in the UK

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Abstract

Summary

Underprivileged adolescent girls in Pune, India, were shorter and lighter, and had reduced lean body mass (LBM) compared with relatively ‘well off’ age-matched South Asian and white Caucasian girls in the UK. Pune girls had low bone mass for projected bone area (BA) in comparison to their UK counterparts, but they had the appropriate amount of bone mineral content (BMC) for their LBM.

Purpose

To determine whether adolescent girls from a low socioeconomic group in Pune, India, who had low dietary calcium intake (449 mg/day; range 356–538 mg/day) and hypovitaminosis D (median serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D 23.4 nmol/l; range 13.5–31.9 nmol/l), would have lower lumbar spine (LS) bone mineral apparent density (BMAD), and total body (TB) BMC adjusted for LBM.

Methods

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to measure TB and LS BMC, BA and TB LBM in 50 postmenarcheal girls in Pune. These variables were compared with data from 34 South Asian and 82 white Caucasian age-matched girls in the UK.

Results

Pune girls were shorter and lighter, and had less LBM for height, compared to both UK groups, and they had later age of menarche than UK Asians. BA-adjusted TB BMC and LS BMAD were lower in Pune girls (mean±SE 1,778±17 g; 0.332±0.005 g/cm3), compared to the UK South Asians (mean±SE 1,864±18 g; 0.355±0.006 g/cm3) and UK white Caucasians (mean±SE 1,864±13 g; 0.345±0.004 g/cm3). In contrast both LS and TB BMC adjusted for TB LBM were not significantly different between the groups.

Conclusion

Pune girls had low bone mass for projected BA relative to UK South Asian and white Caucasian girls, but had the appropriate amount of BMC for their LBM.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the participating youngsters, their parents and staff at the Dhole-Patil school, Pune. We are grateful to Dr Sadanand Naik, Mr M. Sayyad, Miss Neha Sanwalka, Miss Dhanashree Bhandari, Mrs Dhole-Patil, Mrs Shilpa Shirole, Mrs Shamim Momin and Ms Deepa Pillay for their help with the study in Pune. We are also grateful to participants of the UK GE Lunar BMD database subjects.

Conflict of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hirabai Cowasji Jehangir Medical Research Institute, Jehangir Hospital, Pune, India

    A. Khadilkar & V. Khadilkar

  2. Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham, UK

    N. J. Crabtree & N. J. Shaw

  3. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK

    N. J. Crabtree

  4. Nutrition and Bone Health Research Group, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, MRC Human Nutrition Research, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge, CB1 9NL, UK

    K. A. Ward

  5. Clinical Radiology, Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    K. A. Ward

  6. Department of Paediatric Medicine, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9WL, UK

    M. Z. Mughal

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  1. A. Khadilkar
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  2. N. J. Crabtree
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  3. K. A. Ward
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  4. V. Khadilkar
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  5. N. J. Shaw
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  6. M. Z. Mughal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Z. Mughal.

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Khadilkar, A., Crabtree, N.J., Ward, K.A. et al. Bone status of adolescent girls in Pune (India) compared to age-matched South Asian and white Caucasian girls in the UK. Osteoporos Int 21, 1155–1160 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-009-1040-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-009-1040-9

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