高齢者の骨強度の実態と生活要因の関連

抄録

A questionnaire survey on measurement of bone strength and lifestyle factors was conducted in 291 subjects (108 men and 183 women) who were users of welfare centers for the elderly in Osaka Prefecture and cooperated with the survey. The mean age, height, weight, and BMI of the men and women were 74.2 years (range : 61 to 90 years) and 72.9 years (range : 60 to 93 years), 161.2cm and 149.4cm, 60.2kg and 51.4kg, and 23.1kg/m² and 23.0kg/m², respectively. Bone strength was higher in men than in women ; for both men and women, it was similar to that of the general population of the same age but was about 74% of that of the general population of 20 year olds. The percentage of subjects who had “daily intake” of milk was low (49.5% for men and 65.9% for women), which suggested a possibility of chronic inadequate intake of calcium. For both men and women, no relationship was observed between bone strength and the frequency of intake of beans and milk. For men, bone strength was positively correlated with intake of health foods, such as calcium preparations, and exercise habits. Of the subjects with a high interest in dietary habits, a high percentage of women consumed beans and health foods such as calcium preparations, and a high percentage of both men and women had exercise habits. Based on the above results, raising interest in dietary habits through dietary education and promotion of calcium intake and exercise habits were suggested to be effective for improving the bone strength of elderly people.