[Relationship between dietary life style in youth and osteoporosis]

The relationship between the dietary life style and osteoporosis was examined by comparing 71 osteoporotic women [age--65.5 +/- 8.9 (mean +/- SD)] with 76 women age-matched as controls. All subjects lived in and around Tsukuba City. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The frequencies of drinking milk and eating meat, fish, or potatoes, etc. both in their youth (about 18-25 years old) and at the present were investigated. The results were as follows: 1) The frequency of having unbalanced diets in their youth was significantly higher in osteoporotic patients than in controls. 2) During their youth, osteoporotic patients had significantly lower frequency of drinking milk, and significantly higher frequency of eating meat, dried fish or eggs, compared with controls. 3) High milk-consumers during their youth (milk-drinking: > or = 3 times per week) were significantly less frequent in osteoporotic patients than that in controls. 4) In the controls, the frequencies of drinking milk and eating meat during their youth were significantly positively correlated with lumbar BMD. The frequency of eating potatoes was significantly negatively correlated with the BMD in controls. 5) No strong relationships between present dietary life and osteoporosis or BMD were found. These findings suggest that drinking milk in their youth may influence BMD and associate with osteoporosis in women.