Scientists have always stated that the amount of muscle that is present in the body during the growing years is directly related to bone growth. A newer study suggest that the fat mass, particularly in women, can also negatively or positively effect bone growth.
The research looked at nearly 4,000 young individuals who were 15 years of age. They then compared the size, shape, and density of their bones to the amount of body fat that they had. Individuals with higher amounts of fat were found to have much higher density in their bones.
The fat mass also directly affected the shape of their bones as well. They found that a five kilogram increase in the individuals fat mass, can be associated with an 8 percent increase in the circumference of the tibia. Girls usually have more fat on their body then boys (even when they are at an average weight), so these findings suggest that the amount of fat on a persons body can directly effect the health of their bones for years to come.
The idea that a healthy diet and exercise builds strong bones and helps and individual to lose weight remains true, but that doesn’t mean that it is going to be true 100% of the time.
The recent study has shown that what is commonly believed to be true may only be true a percentage of the time. Sometimes, it may be better for your bones to carry around a little bit of extra weight.
It was found that exercises like walking may help you to lose weight, but may not help you to build strong bones. In order to offset those issues, you should do higher stress exercises that force the body to compensate, and put an increased amount of stress on the bones to help them build bigger, stronger bones.
Category: Health
