Bone mass in girls according to their BMI, VO2 max, hours and years of practice

Abstract

The accumulation of bone mass during puberty is related with bone health in adulthood. This accumulation is influenced by diverse factors such as body mass index (BMI), maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max), hours of training and years of sport practice. For this reason, the objective of this study is to analyse the influence of these variables on bone mass in young female athletes. The sample is formed of 120 healthy girls with ages between 9 and 13 (11.32 ± 1.6 years old), divided into two groups depending on their BMI, VO2 max, hours of training and years of sport practice. The participants completed a series of tests to evaluate level of sexual development, body composition (fat mass, lean mass and bone mass) and physical condition. The results show higher values of total lean mass, total fat mass and percentage of body fat in the groups with higher BMI in prepubertal girls and pubertal girls (p < .05). In relation to VO2 max, in the prepubertal group, girls with lower VO2 max had higher values of total fat mass (p < .05) and percentage of body fat (p < .05). In the pubertal group, girls with lower VO2 max also showed a higher total fat mass (p < .05). The studied variables account for a 85% and 75.4% of the variance of total bone mineral content and bone mineral density (BMD), respectively. In conclusion, the content and BMD are closely related with muscle mass and sports practice in young females. The amount of fat mass showed no association with bone mass and physical condition has an indirect relationship with bone development.