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Bone Health: Studies in Adults and the Elderly

Data from NHANES III was used to determine whether milk intake during childhood and adolescence, when controlled for current calcium intake, was associated with adult bone mineral content, bone mineral density, and the incidence of osteoporotic fractures in 3,251 non-Hispanic white women aged 20 years and older:¹

• Among women aged 20 to 49 years, bone mineral content was 5.6% lower in those who consumed < 1 serving of milk/week (low intake) compared to those who consumed > 1 serving/day (high intake) during childhood (p < 0.01);
• Low milk intake during adolescence was associated with a 3% reduction in hip bone mineral content and bone mineral density (p < 0.02);
• Among women aged 50 years and older, there was a nonlinear association between milk intake during childhood and adolescence and hip bone mineral content and bone mineral density (p < 0.04);
• Low milk intake during childhood was associated with a two-fold greater risk of fracture (p < 0.05);
• Women with low milk intake during childhood and adolescence have less bone mass in adulthood and greater risk of fracture.

In a cross-sectional study involving 224 young women (age 18 to 31 years), milk intake during early childhood until the age of 12 years was assessed via a food frequency questionnaire. The relationships between previous milk intake and current calcium intake and bone mineral measures were investigated:²

• Adolescent milk intake correlated with radial bone mineral density (r = 0.16);
• When weight was controlled for, adolescent milk intake correlated with total body bone mineral content (r = 0.21), spine bone mineral content (r = 0.16), radial bone mineral density (r = 0.18), and radial bone mineral content (r = 0.17);
• Current calcium intake correlated with spine bone mineral content (r = 0.17).

Similarly, in another cross-sectional study consisting of 139 women aged 30 to 39 years, a higher lifetime calcium intake was associated with a higher hip bone density compared to a low lifetime calcium intake. An increase in teenage calcium intake from 800 to 1,200 mg/day is estimated to increase hip bone density by 6%.³

In a study using data from a prospective cohort study consisting of 581 older women (mean age 70.6 years), milk consumption history and bone mineral density were determined:⁴

• Higher milk consumption in adulthood was independently and significantly associated with higher bone mineral density levels at the midradius, spine, total hip, intertrochanter, and trochanter;
• Higher teenage milk intake was associated with significantly higher bone mineral density at the spine and midradius;
• Milk intake was not associated with bone mineral density of the ultradistal wrist.

Historical milk consumption on current bone mineral density at the hip and spine was determined in a cross-sectional study involving 284 community-based women aged 44 to 74 years:⁵

• There was a consistent upward trend in bone mineral density at all sites with increasing historical milk consumption (total hip, femoral neck, trochanter, intertrochanter, p < 0.05; Ward’s triangle, p = 0.005);
• Adjustment for age and body size did not alter these trends;
• Milk consumption up to age 25 was a significant independent predictor of bone mineral density at all sites in multiple linear regression analyses controlling for age, body mass index, menopausal status, smoking, use of hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptives, physical activity, and alcohol intake;
• Frequent milk consumption before age 25 favourably influences hip bone mass in middle aged older women.

Milk consumption habits in childhood and adolescence were assessed in 225 white postmenopausal women, mean age 57 years (49 to 66 years), who were part of a randomized controlled trial on the effect of moderate increases in physical activity on bone loss:⁶

• Women who reported drinking milk with every meal during childhood and adolescence had significantly higher bone densities than women who reported drinking milk less frequently;
• Controlling for factors known to affect bone density did not alter these results;
• The data show a nearly linear relationship between frequency of milk consumption and bone densities;
• Consumers of milk with every meal had significantly higher bone densities (85.7 vs. 82.5, p = 0.034).

Similarly, in another cross-sectional study consisting of 139 women aged 30 to 39 years, a higher lifetime calcium intake was associated with a higher hip bone density compared to a low lifetime calcium intake. An increase in teenage calcium intake from 800 to 1,200 mg/day is estimated to increase hip bone density by 6%.³

Keywords: health studies, bone health

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