Association of physical fitness, body composition, cardiometabolic markers and adherence to the Mediterranean diet with bone mineral density in perimenopausal women. The FLAMENCO project

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to analyse the association of different components of physical fitness, body composition, cardiometabolic markers and the Mediterranean diet with bone mineral density (BMD) in perimenopausal women, and to test which of these components are independently associated with BMD. The sample comprised 197 perimenopausal women (52.6 ± 4.5 years). Physical fitness was assessed with the “Senior Fitness Test” battery and the handgrip strength and Bruce tests. Fat and lean mass and BMD were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We analysed the markers of metabolic syndrome, C-reactive protein, and components of the Mediterranean diet. Handgrip muscle strength (β = 0.212, P = 0.005), body weight (β = 0.244, P = 0.001), BMI (β = 0.180, P = 0.011) and lean mass (β = 0.379, P < 0.001) were positively associated with BMD. No associations were observed between cardiometabolic markers or the Mediterranean diet with BMD (all P > 0.05). When all relevant indicators of BMD were simultaneously considered, lean mass was the only 1 showing an independent association with BMD (β = 0.392, P < 0.001), explaining 14% of the BMD variability. In conclusion, muscle strength might be a marker of BMD in perimenopausal women. However, lean mass was the only factor independently associated with BMD. Future research to determine whether increasing lean mass through specific exercise-based interventions contributes to increasing BMD is warranted.

KEYWORDS:

• Lean mass
• handgrip strength
• Mediterranean diet
• alcohol
• tobacco
• weight status
• strength
• C-reactive protein

Disclosure statement

None of the authors have any conflict of interests.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the project: “Cost effectiveness of an exercise intervention program in perimenopausal women”. Reference: PI-0667-2013 and funded by the Ministry of Health of the Junta de Andalucía. AS-M [Grant Number: FPU12/00963], IC-R [Grant Number: FPU13/01993] and MB-C [Grant Number: FPU14/02518] were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. VAA was also supported by the Andalucía Talent Hub Program launched by the Andalusian Knowledge Agency, co-funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (COFUND – Grant Agreement nº 291780) and the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment of the Junta de Andalucía.