In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the effect of body composition on bone mineral density in Iranian children and adolescents. We showed that obese children and adolescents, especially obese girls had greater BMC and BMD than normal-weight subjects and also found that age and total body lean mass were the most important predictors of bone density.
To date, there is disagreement regarding the relative effect of fat mass on BMC and BMD (
2,
7,
11,
18). We found a positive correlation between bone parameters and TBFP in the girls, but in boys, BMC and BMD in the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total body were negatively correlated with TBFP. El Hage and coworkers showed a negative association between fat mass and BMD in lumbar spine and total body in boys but in girls fat mass, in comparison to lean mass, was a better positive determinant of BMD (
19).
Nagasaki and coworkers found a negative correlation between total body fat percentage and total body BMD in 12-15 year-old girls and in obese boys over 12 years of age (
2). Goulding in 2008 demonstrated the fat mass as an independent predictor of bone mass in preschool children (
20) although some previous studies reported a negative association between bone mass and fat mass in older obese children (
21,
22).
The main mechanisms involved in the relationship between adipose tissue and bone are undetected (
23). Adipokines or proinflammatory cytokines secreted from adipose tissue may have a role (
24). IL-6 (Interleukin 6) and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor α) can promote bone resorption by osteoclast differentiation (
23). Some authors have reported the action of fat mass on BMD through estrogen, leptin (
25), insulin or amylin (
26). Leptin not only has a central role in energy expenditure, but also affects the bone metabolism and increases proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts in adults (
27). Leptin is secreted by adipocytes and increases in obese individuals. Maggio and coworkers showed that obese girls had a higher serum leptin concentration and higher BMD and a positive association between leptin and BMD has also been demonstrated in adult women (
18). It seems that leptin is a mediator of adipose tissue hormonal effect on the bone mass (
27). Another study presented leptin as a growth factor that affects the chondrocytes of growth plates via Insulin-like Growth Factor I (IGF-I) and in obese children it contributes to increase linear growth and bone mass. In adolescents, sex difference in BMD may be explained by differences in the serum leptin concentration, directly or indirectly via estrogen (
18).
It seems that the effect of fat mass on bone accrual is dependent on gender and stage of puberty and is more significant in specific growth phases and during critical stages of growth and development (
11); therefore, these different results could be related to various methodology, site of measurement and skeletal maturation in these study subjects.
There are some studies that compare the effect of lean versus fat mass on bone mineral density in children and adolescents; some advocated on the lean mass and some other on fat mass as a main indicator of BMC and BMD (
2,
28,
29). We found the strong effect of total body lean mass on bone mineral content and density in multiple regression analysis.
Some mechanisms explain the correlation between lean mass and bone mineral density. These include mechanical load, and hormonal effects, such as increased conversion of androstenedione to estrogen and high circulating level of leptin (
2). Although there is no evidence of bone response to static load (
26), some studies suggest that the effect of fat mass on bone mass is mediated by increasing the muscle-mediated skeletal dynamic load (
26) Schoenau et al. stated that great load and mechanical stress on the subperiosteal surface of long bones can stimulate bone formation, and in the obese children and adolescents, this biochemical loading is increased due to increased body weight and lean mass (
30). Harold Frost’s Mechanostat hypothesis stated “muscle-bone unit” in children and adolescents. On the base of this theory, increasing maximal muscle force during the growth period will increase the bone mass, size and strength, and physical activity plays an important role in maximizing bone mass during this period (
31). Olmedillas et al. showed that leptin receptors are upregulated in hypertrophic muscles (
32) and it seems that the effect of leptin on bone is mediated by muscles. In 2011, Ivana and coworkers in Prague showed a positive correlation between serum leptin and bone mineral density and between lean mass and IGF-I, claiming that low levels of lean mass and insufficient production of IGF-I or leptin could negatively influence the bone development in pubertal girls (
10).
Using multiple regression analysis, we found that the most changes in the bone mineral density were attributed to the age and total body lean mass; however, the effect of total body fat mass in these models was not significant. It seems that the effect of fat mass on the bone is indirect and via lean mass and once lean mass is controlled, there is no significant relationship between fat and bone mass (
33).
In some previous studies we showed greater lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD in more active boys and also found that fat-free mass (lean and bone mass) in the boys was greater than the girls (
12,
34). In this study, we found that the main effect of body composition on BMD is related to total body lean mass in both genders. Also, the results showed that more active boys had a greater lean mass than less active ones. In animal studies, researchers have also found a greater response in males than in females to similar mechanical effects (
35). Baptista and coworkers in 2012 found that lean mass was the most important predictor of BMD in boys and girls, while habitual weight-bearing physical activity has a positive effect on bone mineralization only in boys (
36). In our study, it seems that girls not only are less active than the boys, but also may be less responsive to physical activity.
This study has a number of limitations. First, it is a cross-sectional survey and more prospective data are needed to evaluate the effect of lean mass and fat mass on BMD during growth. Second, in this study we did not measure hormonal factors and proinflammatory adipokines that seem to influence bone accrual.
In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrate more important associations between lean mass and BMD than fat mass. Thus, these findings support the recommendation that emphasis on physical activity and lean body mass in school children is more important than the exclusive concentration on fatness.