The timing of peak velocity of height, lean mass and bone mass in healthy Japanese male junior high school students

Abstract

The growth patterns of musculoskeletal tissues are classified in the general type by Scammon RE. However, it is well known that bone and muscle do not grow concurrently each other, as well as those of different regions. Previous study comparing the peak velocity timing (PVT) of musculoskeletal tissues in Canadian children using DXA reported the following developmental order height, lean mass and bone mass.
As no study has investigated the PVT of musculoskeletal tissues in Japanese children, we measured the PVT of seventy healthy male junior high school students using DXA by six times from admission to graduation of their school. Our results showed the same developmental order (height-lean mass-bone mass) in Japanese boys as in Canadian children.