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The Saskatchewan Pediatric Bone Mineral Accrual Study: bone mineral acquisition during the growing years
1College of Physical Education, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. baileyd@sask.usask.ca
Insights
Children gain significant bone mineral during adolescence. Over 35% of total body and spine bone mineral accrual occurs in just four years around peak height velocity, crucial for lifelong bone health.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Bone Health
- Growth and Development
- Skeletal Physiology
Background:
- Bone mineral accretion is critical for achieving peak bone mass.
- Adolescence represents a key period for skeletal development.
- Understanding bone accrual patterns informs strategies for preventing osteoporosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze bone mineral accrual in growing children.
- To establish growth curves for bone mineral content (BMC) at key skeletal sites.
- To correlate bone accrual with maturation and peak linear growth velocity.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study (Saskatchewan Pediatric Bone Mineral Accrual Study) initiated in 1991.
- Annual dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans of the whole body, AP lumbar spine, and proximal femur.
- Collection of dietary, physical activity, anthropometric, and maturity data every six months.
Main Results:
- Significant bone mineral is accrued during the 4-year adolescent period surrounding peak height velocity.
- Over 35% of total body and AP spine BMC is acquired during this critical window.
- More than 27% of femoral neck BMC is accrued during these same adolescent years.
Conclusions:
- Adolescence is a pivotal period for bone mineral acquisition, comparable to bone loss over an entire adult lifespan.
- The findings highlight the importance of optimizing bone health during childhood and adolescence.
- This research provides crucial data for understanding skeletal development and future bone health outcomes.
Abstract:
To investigate bone mineral accretion in growing children, the Saskatchewan Pediatric Bone Mineral Accrual Study was initiated in 1991. The study involves the collection of dietary and physical activity information along with anthropometric growth and maturity measurements every 6 months and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometer (DXA) bone scans of the whole body, AP lumbar spine and proximal femur taken annually. The study has now finished its 6th year and 68 males and 72 females from an original sample of 228 elementary schoolchildren are still involved. To investigate how bone mineral at clinically important sites proceeds in relation to maturation we developed distance and velocity growth curves for height and bone mineral content (BMC) for the AP lumbar spine, the femoral neck and the whole body. In both boys and girls, over 35% of total body and AP spine bone mineral and over 27% of the bone mineral at the femoral neck was laid down during the 4-year adolescent period surrounding peak linear growth velocity. The clinical significance of these values can be appreciated by consideration of the fact that as much bone mineral will be laid down during these 4 adolescent growing years as most people will lose during all of adult life.