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Article

Assessing the Muscle–Bone Unit in Girls Exposed to Different Amounts of Impact-Loading Physical Activity—A Cross-Sectional Association Study

Laboratory of Anthropometry and Body Composition, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy
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Children 2024, 11(9), 1099; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11091099 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 26 July 2024 / Revised: 4 September 2024 / Accepted: 4 September 2024 / Published: 7 September 2024
(This article belongs to the Section Pediatric Orthopedics & Sports Medicine)

Abstract

Background/Objectives: In children, an association exists between muscle and bone, as well as between physical activity and osteogenesis. Impact loading is a factor in increasing bone accrual during growth. In this work, we explored the muscle–bone association in girls exposed to long-term physical activity at different levels of impact loading. Methods: Four groups of girls aged 7–16 were considered. The curricular (C; n = 22) group only had curricular physical activity at school (2 h/w). In addition to curricular physical activity, the girls in the dance (D; n = 21), gymnastics at lower training (GL; n = 14), and gymnastics at higher training (GH; n = 20) groups had 2 h/w, 4 h/w, and 4 h/w < training ≤ 12 h/w additional physical activity, respectively, for at least one year. A visual analysis estimated the respective amounts of impact-loading activity. The bone mineral content (BMC), areal bone mineral density (aBMD), and fat-free soft tissue mass (FFSTM) were assessed with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: The results showed that, after adjusting for several confounders, statistically significant correlations were present between muscle mass and several bone mineral variables. A regression analysis confirmed the correlation in the data, and showed the marginal role of other body composition variables and physical activity for predicting BMC and BMD. Conclusion: Skeletal muscle mass is a major determinant of the BMC and BMD of the TBLH, as well as of the Appendicular level, in girls exposed to different amounts of long-term impact-loading physical activity.
Keywords: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; bone mineral content; bone mineral density; fat-free soft tissue mass dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; bone mineral content; bone mineral density; fat-free soft tissue mass

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MDPI and ACS Style

Cavedon, V.; Sandri, M.; Zancanaro, C.; Milanese, C. Assessing the Muscle–Bone Unit in Girls Exposed to Different Amounts of Impact-Loading Physical Activity—A Cross-Sectional Association Study. Children 2024, 11, 1099. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11091099

AMA Style

Cavedon V, Sandri M, Zancanaro C, Milanese C. Assessing the Muscle–Bone Unit in Girls Exposed to Different Amounts of Impact-Loading Physical Activity—A Cross-Sectional Association Study. Children. 2024; 11(9):1099. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11091099

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cavedon, Valentina, Marco Sandri, Carlo Zancanaro, and Chiara Milanese. 2024. "Assessing the Muscle–Bone Unit in Girls Exposed to Different Amounts of Impact-Loading Physical Activity—A Cross-Sectional Association Study" Children 11, no. 9: 1099. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11091099

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