Bone health, body composition, and vitamin D status of black preadolescent children in South Africa

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Authors

White, Zelda
White, Samantha
Dalvie, Tasneem
Kruger, Marlena C.
Van Zyl, Amanda
Becker, Piet J.

Journal Title

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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.

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Keywords

Bone health, Body composition, Vitamin D, Preadolescent children, South Africa (SA), Bone mineral content (BMC), Bone mineral density (BMD)

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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.