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Is the negative relationship between obesity and bone mineral content greater for older women?

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Abstract

Obesity and osteoporosis are two important body composition problems with increasing prevalences in aged populations. Traditionally, obesity has been regarded as being beneficial to bone health. However, the protective effect of obesity on osteoporosis has been questioned. In some recent studies, obesity, as defined by percentage body fat, was regarded as a risk factor for osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate the effect of waist circumference, a surrogate measure for abdominal obesity, on bone mineral content (BMC) and (2) examine whether the effect of waist circumference increases with advancing age. The study population is made up of women aged over 45 years who completed the body composition and bone mineral density examinations in the fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2010. Subjects who take estrogen or are under medical treatment for osteoporosis were excluded. Stroke patients are also excluded. Femoral neck, total-hip, and whole-body BMC were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. A total of 1,434 subjects were included in the analysis. Waist circumference was negatively associated with BMC in all tested regions after correction for weight, menopausal status, smoking, drinking, and exercise. In addition, the negative association between waist circumference and BMC in the femoral neck and total hip increases with age, after correction for confounding factors, showing an interaction effect between waist circumference and age on BMC. In conclusion, this study shows that the negative relationship between waist circumference and BMC in the femoral neck and total hip is greater for older women.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Hallym University Specialization Fund. (HRF-S-21).

Conflict of interest

The authors disclose that they have no conflicting interests in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business, Hallym University, Chuncheon-si, South Korea

    Wankyo Chung & Jongseok Lee

  2. Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon-si, South Korea

    Ohk-Hyun Ryu

  3. Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Gyo-dong 153, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do, 200-704, South Korea

    Ohk-Hyun Ryu

Authors
  1. Wankyo Chung
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  2. Jongseok Lee
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  3. Ohk-Hyun Ryu
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Correspondence to Ohk-Hyun Ryu.

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Chung, W., Lee, J. & Ryu, OH. Is the negative relationship between obesity and bone mineral content greater for older women?. J Bone Miner Metab 32, 505–513 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-013-0519-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-013-0519-9

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