Purisa Wecharak. The effect of exercise intervention on bone mineral accretion in 7-9 year-old Thai girls . Master's Degree(Nutrition). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2004.
The effect of exercise intervention on bone mineral accretion in 7-9 year-old Thai girls
Abstract:
Physical activity and nutrition can enhance bone mineral accretion during
childhood for the prevention of osteoporosis in later life. My aim was to assess the
effect of a seven months school-based exercise intervention program on bone mineral
accretion in prepubertal girls and to assess their dietary calcium intake. One hundred
ninety eight healthy prepubertal girls, aged between 7-9 years, recruited from four
primary schools were assigned to an exercise intervention group and a control group.
The exercise intervention consisted of 30-40-minute physical education sessions, three
times per week. The physical activity program included weight-bearing activities, such
as skipping, hopping, and ball games. The control group had one physical education
session per week. Bone mineral density and bone mineral content (measured by dual
energy x-ray absorptiometry) and dietary calcium intake and usual physical activity
(assessed by questionnaires) were determined at baseline and at the end of the study.
The mean value of dietary calcium intake of all girls was 450 mg/day, approximately
56% of the Thai recommendation. After seven months, the exercise intervention group
had significantly greater gain of femoral neck bone mineral content (5.4%) and spine
(1.3%) and femoral neck bone mineral density (2.1%) than the control group. In
conclusion, seven months school-based weight-bearing exercise intervention is
benificial for bone mineral accretion in prepubertal Thai girls.