Long-term leisure-time physical activity has a positive effect on bone mass gain in girls

The purpose of this 7-year prospective longitudinal study was to examine whether the level and consistency of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) during adolescence affected the bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) attained at early adulthood. The study subjects were 202 Finnish girls who were 10 to 13 years of age at baseline. Bone area (BA), BMC, and BMD of the total body (TB), total femur (TF), and lumbar spine (L(2)-L(4)) were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Scores of LTPA were obtained by questionnaire. Girls were divided into four groups: consistently low physical activity (G(LL)), consistently high (G(HH)), and changed from low to high (G(LH)) and from high to low (G(HL)) during 7 years of follow-up. At baseline, no differences were found in BA, BMC, and BMD among the groups in any of the bone sites. Compared with the G(LL) group, the G(HH) group had higher BMC (11.7% in the TF, p < .05) and BMD at the TB (4.5%) and the TF (12.2%, all p < .05) at age 18. Those in the G(LH) group also had higher a BMC at each site (8.5% to 9.4%, p < .05) and a higher BMD in the TB (5.4%) and the TF (8.9%) than that of G(LL) (all p < 0.05) at the age 18. Our results suggest that long-term leisure-time physical activity has a positive effect on bone mass gain of multiple bone sites in girls during the transition from prepuberty to early adulthood. In addition, girls whose physical activity increases during adolescence also benefit from bone mass gain.