Non-linear association of body composition and its components with bone density in Iranian children and adolescents

Summary Peak bone mass is established during childhood. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of the components of overall body mass with areal bone mineral density Z -score in children. The findings of this study showed that children with greater overall body mass had higher aBMD Z -score. Purpose Peak bone mass is established during childhood and adolescence. One of the important factors influencing predicted bone mass tracking in childhood and adolescence is alteration in the body composition during this growth period. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of the components of overall body mass with areal bone mineral density Z -score in children and adolescents. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 478 healthy Iranian children and adolescents (237 girls and 241 boys) who had DXA measures participated. We evaluated the linearity of associations using generalized additive models. Results Children’s mean age was14 years with a range of 9–18 years, and 49.6% were girls. We found an increase in aBMD Z -score with increasing overall body mass ( r = 0.25, p < 0.001). We observed this association with fat-free mass and total fat mass up to the 60th (~30 Kg) and 75th percentile (~12.5 Kg) [0.051 (95% CI, 0.027–0.075) increase in aBMD Z -score per 1 Kg increase in fat-free mass and 0.079 (95% CI, 0.044–0.114) increase in aBMD Z -score per 1 Kg increase in the total fat mass]. The correlation between Z -score of overall body mass and its components with aBMD Z -score was strongly positive. ( P value < 0.001 for all) Conclusion The findings of this study showed that children with greater overall body mass had higher aBMD Z -score. In addition, this study adds to a growing literature, suggesting that the relationship between body composition and BMD may be influenced by the pattern of fat and fat-free mass distribution in population.