Bone health, body composition, and vitamin D status of black preadolescent children in South Africa
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Date
Authors
White, Zelda
White, Samantha
Dalvie, Tasneem
Kruger, Marlena C.
Van Zyl, Amanda
Becker, Piet J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI Publishing
Abstract
Optimal bone health is important in children to reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life.
Both body composition and vitamin D play an important role in bone health. This study aimed to
describe bone health, body composition, and vitamin D status, and the relationship between these
among a group of conveniently sampled black preadolescent South African children (n = 84) using a
cross-sectional study. Body composition, bone mineral density (BMD), and bone mineral content
(BMC) were assessed using dual x-ray absorptiometry. Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D)
(n = 59) were assessed using dried blood spots. A quarter (25%) of children presented with low
bone mass density for their chronological age (BMD Z-score < 2) and 7% with low BMC-for-age
(BMC Z-score < 2), while only 34% of the children had su cient vitamin D status (25(OH)D
30 ng/mL). Lean mass was the greatest body compositional determinant for variances observed in
bone health measures. Body composition and bone health parameters were not significantly di erent
across vitamin D status groups (p > 0.05), except for lumbar spine bone mineral apparent density
(LS-BMAD) (p < 0.01). No association was found between bone parameters at all sites and levels of
25(OH)D (p > 0.05). Further research, using larger representative samples of South African children
including all race groups is needed before any conclusions and subsequent recommendation among
this population group can be made.
Description
Keywords
Bone health, Body composition, Vitamin D, Preadolescent children, South Africa (SA), Bone mineral content (BMC), Bone mineral density (BMD)
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
White, Z., White, S., Dalvie, T. et al. 2019, 'Bone health, body composition, and vitamin D status of black preadolescent children in South Africa', Nutrients, vol. 11, art. 1243, pp. 1-12.