[Obesity and Bone Mineral Density in Menopausal Women]

To determine the association between obesity and bone mineral density in menopausal women.

We recruited menopausal women aged 50 years and older who undertook health examinations in West China Hospital of Sichuan University in this study. Bone mineral density of the participants was measured by MetriScan Bone Densitometry. The participants were categorized into three groups according to the T value: normal density, osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Of the 4 938 participants, 8.55% had obesity [body mass index (BMI)>28 kg/m²]. The three groups of participants were different in BMI, a body shape index (ABSI), body mass, waist circumference, hip circumference and height ( P<0.01). The age-adjusted T values were positively correlated with height, body mass, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist-height ratio (WHtR) and body roundness index (BRI) ( P<0.05). The areas under curves (AUC) of receiver operator characteristic (ROC) were 0.540 and 0.568, respectively, for waist circumference and BMI in those with osteoporosis.

Obesity in menopausal women is negatively associated with osteoporosis. The clinical significance of such an association requires further studies with a longitudinal design.