2020 Volume 71 Issue 1 Pages 31-39
Objective: As a preventive measure against osteoporosis among mothers, we examined the relationship between maternal bone mass and dietary/lifestyle habits during health examinations of 3-year-old children.
Methods: We conducted a self-administered questionnaire of 269 mothers, who had brought their children to a healthcare center conducting health examinations for 3-year-old children in Tokyo, to examine their physical conditions and dietary/lifestyle habits. We also measured their calcaneal bone mass using ultrasonography.
Results: The percentage of mothers who did exercise was significantly higher in the group having Stiffness Index values above the median, representing their bone mass, compared to mothers who did not do exercise (p＝0.026). Mothers who exercised also showed a lower meal-skipping rate (p＝0.031), with a higher rate of consuming more than 200 mL of milk daily (p＝0.018), when compared with the dietary habits of the mothers who did not exercise. Furthermore, the history of fractures was significantly higher in the lower bone mass group than in the higher bone mass group (p＝0.006), and the frequency of outdoor sun exposure was lower among mothers with a history of fractures than it was among those without a history (p＝0.006). In contrast, mothers with a history of fractures answered “Rarely” more often than those without a history when asked about the frequency of eating green and yellow vegetables (p＜0.006).
Conclusion: The results suggest the importance of appropriate physical activities and diets for bone mass maintenance and fracture prevention during the postnatal period, when maternal bone mass is restored.
