Ethnic variation in osteoporosis risk factors: Dietary calcium, vitamin D intake and body mass index (BMI)

Abstract

Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease in humans, representing a major public health problem. Few studies have investigated osteoporosis risk factors such as calcium and vitamin D intake, quality of life and body mass index (BMI) among multi-ethnic adults in the Malaysian context. This study aimed to determine the ethnic variation in osteoporosis risk factors among students in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT). A cross-sectional study via a self-administrated questionnaire was carried out among 198 respondents aged 19 to 25 years from UMT. The data in the present study included a three-day food record and anthropometric measurements. Nutritionist ProTM analysis software version 5.3 was used to calculate dietary calcium and vitamin D intake from the diet histories, based on the Nutrient Composition of Malaysian Food Database guidance for the dietary calcium intake and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for vitamin D intake. The data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Chi-Square tests. The findings indicate the median calcium intake was 348.3 mg/day while for vitamin D intake was only 1.37 µg/day. Indian participants had a significantly lower intake level of calcium (243.5 mg/day), followed by Chinese (362.3 mg/day) and Malays (440.4 mg/day). The median vitamin D intakes of Malay, Chinese, and Indian adults were 2.15 µg/day, 1.37 µg/day and 1.14 µg/day, respectively. Furthermore, the BMI among respondents at 20.88 (6.4) kg/m2 categorized as normal weight. It was found that there was no significant difference (p> 0.05) in BMI across ethnicity. Lastly, there was a significant association (p< 0.05) between ethnicity and calcium intake (p = 0.001).