Authors:
Van Den Hooven EH, Ambrosini GL, Huang RC, Mountain J, Straker L, Walsh JP, et al.
Authors notes:
Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(5):1035-43.
Keywords:
Body composition, Dietary patterns, Peak bone mass, Raine Study, Young adults
Abstract:
Background: Relatively little is known about the relations between dietary patterns and bone health in adolescence, which is a period of substantial bone mass accrual.
Objectives: We derived dietary patterns that were hypothesized to be related to bone health on the basis of their protein, calcium, and potassium contents and investigated their prospective associations with bone mineral density (BMD), bone area, and bone mineral content (BMC) in a cohort of young adults.
Design: The study included 1024 young adults born to mothers who were participating in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study.
Dietary information was obtained from foodfrequency questionnaires at 14 and 17y of age.
Dietary patterns were characterized according to protein, calcium, and potassium intakes with the use of reduced-rank regression.
BMD, bone area, and BMC were estimated with the use of a total body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan at 20y of age.
Results: We identified 2 major dietary patterns.
The first pattern was positively correlated with intakes of protein, calcium, and potassium and had high factor loadings for low-fat dairy products, whole grains, and vegetables.
The second pattern was positively correlated with protein intake but negatively correlated with intakes of calcium and potassium and had high factor loadings for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs.
After adjustment for anthropometric, sociodemographic, and lifestyle factors, a higher z score for the first pattern at 14y of age was positively associated with BMD and BMC at 20y of age.
The z score for this same pattern at 17y of age was not associated with bone outcomes at 20y of age.
The second pattern at 14 or 17y of age was not associated with BMD, BMC, or bone area.
Conclusions: A dietary pattern characterized by high intakes of protein, calcium, and potassium in midadolescence was associated with higher BMD and BMC at 20y of age.
Our results indicate that high consumption of low-fat dairy products, whole grains, and vegetables in adolescence are associated with beneficial effects on bone development.