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Updated: Jul 24, 2026
07:56
Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts
Published on: January 29, 2018
Body composition and bone mass in post-menopausal women
J E Compston1, M Bhambhani, M A Laskey
1Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge Clinical School, UK.
Clinical Endocrinology
|November 1, 1992
Summary
Fat and lean tissue mass are linked to bone mass in post-menopausal women, with fat mass showing the strongest relationship. Body weight correlates more with bone mass than height or BMI.
Area of Science:
- Bone Densitometry
- Body Composition Analysis
- Post-menopausal Health
Background:
- Bone mass and body composition change significantly after menopause.
- Understanding these changes is crucial for bone health management in aging women.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess total body composition.
- To investigate the relationship between fat and lean tissue mass and total/regional bone mass in healthy British post-menopausal women.
Main Methods:
- Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure total body composition (fat, lean, bone mineral) and regional bone density (lumbar spine, femur).
- 97 healthy post-menopausal women (mean age 57.9 years) were recruited from the general community.
Main Results:
- Significant negative correlations with age were found for total body and lumbar spine bone mineral density.
- Fat tissue mass positively correlated with age and showed significant correlations with all bone mass measurements after adjusting for age and lean mass.
- Lean tissue mass correlated strongly with total body bone mineral content, but less so with bone mineral density compared to fat mass.
Conclusions:
- Both fat and lean tissue mass are related to total and regional bone mass in post-menopausal women, with fat mass having the strongest association.
- Body weight demonstrated stronger correlations with bone mass than body mass index or height.
- Adiposity and muscularity are likely key determinants of peak bone mass rather than the rate of post-menopausal bone loss.
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