Bone strength built in early life
5 October 2007
Children who grow well in infancy have larger, stronger bones as adults. The finding comes from a study, led by Dr Elaine Dennison of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre at the University of Southampton. The results demonstrate that growth in early life does determine adult bone mass and subsequent risk of fracture.
Past research has shown that infant growth is a determinant of adult bone mass, and that poor childhood growth is a risk factor for hip fracture in adulthood. In this study, Dr Dennison and her colleagues used a scanning technique called peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) that measures the density of minerals in bone, to explore the relationship between growth in early life and bone strength in adulthood. The results are published in the journal Bone.
A total of 631 volunteers took part, 313 men and 318 women. All of the participants were born in Hertfordshire between 1931 and 1939 and had detailed medical records available. Each volunteer was asked to complete a questionnaire to gather data on lifestyle factors and the pQCT technique was used to measure the strength of the bones in the fore arm and leg (radius and tibia) of each person.
Using medical records from the volunteers’ infancy, Dr Dennison concluded that weight at birth and at one year old were strongly related to bone length and strength in both men and women.
The correlations persisted after adjustment for potentially confusing factors including age, body mass index, social class, cigarette and alcohol consumption, physical activity, dietary calcium intake and in women HRT use and menopausal status.
Among men, a higher body mass index as an adult was associated with better radial and tibial bone mineral density. Men who smoked were found to have lower bone density that those who didn’t. In women, current HRT use was found to be associated with greater female bone density and greater radial strength.
Dr Dennison said:
‘‘The results of this study add to a large body of evidence that growth in early life does determine adult bone mass and fracture risk. The results support the theory that the risk of bone fracture for future generations might be decreased by measures taken in pregnancy and early infancy.’’
Original research paper: Growth in early life predicts bone strength in late adulthood: the Hertfordshire Cohort Study is published in the September issue of Bone
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