Prevalence of Osteopenia among Sedentary Young women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was evaluating prevalence of osteopenia in young women.40 young untrained women between the age of 20-25 years (obese n=20, BMI>30 and thin n=20, BMI <20) volunteered to participate in this study. Bone mass density (BMD), percentage body fat and lean mass (g/cm2) were measured with the dual X-ray absorptiometry scans (DEXA). Student's t-test was used for determining the amount of bone normalizing among subjects. The study finding showed that 20% of obese and 65% of thin women had osteopenia and thin groups 3.2% more than obese groups were at risk of bone loss. These findings will help educate the medical community and the public about the importance of prevention--targeting young women who are at risk while they still have time to change their habits and improve their bone health.

Key words: Osteopenia, Bone mass density, Obese, Thin.