Obesity linked to poor bone health

ATHENS, Ga., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- University of Georgia researchers linked obesity to poor bone health and warned childhood obesity could impair skeletal health.

Lead study author Norman Pollock and Richard D. Lewis, both of the University of Georgia in Athens, used three-dimensional bone scans which -- unlike the two-dimensional bone densitometer commonly used in osteoporosis screening -- take into account bone shape and geometry and their effect on bone strength.

They found that normal and high body fat young adult females have comparable bone strength in a direct comparison that does not account for muscle mass.

The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found the bones of women ages 18 and 19 with high body fat were 8 percent to 9 percent weaker than women the same age with normal body fat.

"When we corrected for the amount of muscle, we found that the obese person is not making as much bone as they should be for the amount of muscle that they have," Pollock said in a statement. "People haven't observed that in the past because they weren't using the three-dimensional scan."