Impact of exercise and nutrition on bone mass

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine various factors affecting the bone mass of female university students. An ultrasound bone assessment device was used to measure the bone mass of the right calcaneal (heel) bone of 285 female university students. The subjects were asked to complete a questionnaire on the type and amount of time they spent practicing sports while attending elementary, junior, and senior high school and university as well as on milk and natto (fermented soybean) consumption and age at menarche to determine their associations with bone mass. Furthermore, the relationship between sports experience, intensity, and history of the subjects to bone mass was examined. We classified sports into high- and low-impact groups according to the type of sport played to examine the effects of impact on bone mass. We found the strongest correlation between bone mass and the amount of time spent practicing sports while attending senior high school. No correlation was found between bone mass and age at menarche and milk or natto consumption. From the relationship between sports experience and bone mass, we found that bone mass was significantly higher in the group with sports experience while attending junior and senior high school and university. In the assessment of sports intensity and bone mass, we found a significantly higher bone mass in those who played high-impact sports than in those who played low-impact sports. We also examined the effects of continued practice of sports on bone mass and found that more sports experience had a greater effect of increasing bone mass. Exercising while attending junior and senior high school had the highest influence on bone mass, which suggests that the long-term, continued practice of high-impact sports during this period allows a high bone mass to be obtained.