The association between indicators of central obesity and bone mineral density in women

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a protective factor of osteoporosis, which is one of the important health problems in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between indicators of central obesity and bone mineral density (BMD) in women. METHODS: Among the healthy people who visited a tertiary hospital in Pusan for health exam from January to May 1999, we selected 303 women. We measured body mass index (BMI), waist, waist to hip ratio (WHR), menopausal period, and BMD. The SPSS statistical program was used for statistical analysis and the following test used correlation and partial correlation adjusted for age and menopausal period. RESULTS: The total subjects consisted of 162 premenopausal and 141 postmenopausal women. In all subjects, BMI and WHR were positively correlated with spinal BMDs, but after controlling for age and menopausal period, BMI (r=0.322, p<0.01) and waist (r=0.220, p<0.01) were related to spinal BMDs. In the premenopausal group, spinal BMDs were correlated with BMI, waist, but after controlling for age, they were related to BMI (r=0.270, p<0.01) and waist (r=0.193, p<0.05). In the postmenopausal group, BMI, waist, and menopausal period wrer correlated with spinal BMDs, and after controlling for age and menopausal period, BMI (r=0.365, p<0.01) and waist (r=0.251, p<0.01) remained related to spinal BMDs. In women of BMI below 25 kg/m2, spinal BMDs were correlated with waist(r=0.163, P=0.02)and not WHR. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that waist, not WHR was associated with spinal BMDs in women.