Fruit and vegetable intake and bone mass in Chinese adolescents, young and postmenopausal women

Abstract

AbstractObjectivePrevious studies showed an inconsistent association of fruit and vegetable consumption with bone health. We assessed the associations in Chinese adolescents, young and postmenopausal women.DesignA cross-sectional study conducted in China during July 2009 to May 2010.SettingBone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) at the whole body, lumbar spine and left hip were measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Dietary intakes were assessed using an FFQ. All these values were separately standardized intoZ-scores in each population subgroup.SubjectsOne hundred and ten boys and 112 girls (11–14 years), 371 young women (20–34 years, postpartum within 2 weeks) and 333 postmenopausal women (50–70 years).ResultsAfter adjustment for potential covariates, analysis of covariance showed a significantly positive association between fruit intake and BMD and BMC in all participants combined (P-trend: < 0·001 to 0·002). BMDZ-score increased by 0·25 (or 2·1 % of the mean), 0·22 (3·5 %), 0·23 (3·0 %) and 0·25 (3·5 %), and BMCZ-score increased by 0·33 (5·7 %), 0·25 (5·8 %), 0·34 (5·9 %) and 0·29 (4·7 %), at the total body, lumbar spine, total hip and femoral neck in participants belonging to the top tertile compared with the bottom tertile of fruit intake (allP< 0·05), respectively. There was no significant association between vegetable intake and bone mass at all bone sites studied except for total body BMD (P= 0·030). Relatively more pronounced effects were observed in boys and postmenopausal women.ConclusionOur findings add to the existing evidence that fruits and vegetables may have a bone sparing effect.