The Role of Overweight and Obesity on Bone Health in Korean Adolescents with a Focus on Lean and Fat Mass

• Published in: Journal of Korean medical science Vol. 32; no. 10; pp. 1633 - 1641
• Main Authors: Kim, Hwa Young, Jung, Hae Woon, Hong, Hyunsook, Kim, Jae Hyun, Shin, Choong Ho, Yang, Sei Won, Lee, Young Ah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences 01.10.2017; 대한의학회
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon; Adolescent; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Blood Glucose - analysis; Body Composition; Body Mass Index; Bone and Bones - physiology; Bone Density; Child; Female; Femur Neck - physiology; Humans; Insulin - analysis; Lumbar Vertebrae - physiology; Male; Nutrition Surveys; Obesity - pathology; Original; Overweight - pathology; Reference Values; Republic of Korea; Sex Factors; Young Adult; 의학일반; Body Composition; Bone Density; Adolescent; Korea; Pediatric Obesity
• ISSN: 1011-8934; 1598-6357; 1598-6357
• DOI: 10.3346/jkms.2017.32.10.1633

As the associations between pediatric overweight/obesity and bone health remain controversial, we investigated the effects of overweight/obesity as well as lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) on bone parameters in adolescents. Bone parameters were evaluated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) data of 982 adolescents (aged 12-19 years) from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2009-2010). Z-scores for LM, FM, bone mass, bone mineral density (BMD), and bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) using Korean pediatric reference values were used for analysis. Adolescents with overweight/obesity had significantly higher bone mass and density of the total-body-less-head (TBLH), lumbar spine, and femur neck than underweight or normal-weight adolescents (P < 0.001) after adjusting for vitamin D deficiency, calcium intake, and insulin resistance in both sexes. LM was positively associated with bone parameters at all skeletal sites in both sexes (P < 0.001). FM was negatively related to TBLH BMD in boys (P = 0.018) but was positively associated to BMD and BMAD of the lumbar spine and femur neck in girls. In conclusion, overweight/obesity and LM play a positive role in bone health in adolescents. The effect of FM on bone parameters is sex- and site-specific.