Association of Body Composition, Lipid Parameters and Lifestyle Factors with Bone Health Status in Males and Females of North India: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

A number of epidemiological and animal studies have indicated the fine balance among bone and fat metabolism as the connecting link between osteoporosis and obesity. Excess abdominal fat is associated with an abnormal lipid profile causing greater predisposition towards metabolic diseases like osteoporosis. Quantitative ultrasonometry (QUS) T-score being the surrogate marker of osteoporosis was studied in this case-control study (254 cases, 250 controls) comprising of both males and females to investigate its potential association with anthropometric predictors of adiposity and lipid parameters. According to the WHO criteria, patients with a T-score ? -1.0 SD were marked as cases and ? -1.0 SD as controls. Information on demographic and lifestyle factors, anthropometric measurements and lipid profile was recorded for all the participants. Results depicted that QUS T-score was inversely correlated with the predictors of obesity including BMI, WHtR and BAI in the pooled group, BMI, WHtR and TC in females, and directly correlated with TGL in males. After attenuating for the confounding factors, while obesity indices remained significant in pooled and females, the influence of lipid parameters among males was nullified. However, principal component analysis in all groups pointed obesity to be the major determinant, followed by lipid parameters, accounting for 90% of the variance. Additionally, calcium and fruit intake, post-menopausal and socio-economic status, and smoking had a significant role to play. To conclude, the present data indicates that individuals with greater abdominal obesity might pose a higher risk of developing bone metabolic diseases like osteopenia and osteoporosis, necessitating the need for evaluating the bone status in obese individuals, whilst, the role of lipid parameters still remains conflicting. This might open new avenues in understanding the mechanism underlying bone metabolism.