Association of physical activity levels with bone mineral content and bone mineral density among children aged 6-9 years

ZHANG Tianhong; LUO Jieling; CHEN Ju; XIE Zhiyong; CHEN Gengdong

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2026-0112

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (10) : 1093-1098. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2026-0112

Early-life Prevention of Chronic Disease

Association of physical activity levels with bone mineral content and bone mineral density among children aged 6-9 years

ZHANG Tianhong¹, LUO Jieling², CHEN Ju², XIE Zhiyong², CHEN Gengdong³

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Abstract

Objective To examine the associations of physical activity levels with total-body bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) among children aged 6-9 years. Methods This cross-sectional study included 452 children aged 6-9 years from Guangzhou, China. Total-body BMC and BMD were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Physical activity was estimated from parent-assisted 24-hour activity records completed on three consecutive days and expressed as total daily energy expenditure (MET·h/day) and time spent at different intensity levels. Restricted cubic spline models and analysis of covariance were used to evaluate the associations after adjustment for potential confounders. Results The mean age was (8.01±0.93) years. Higher total daily energy expenditure and longer time spent in vigorous physical activity were positively associated with total-body BMC and BMD (P_{for trend}<0.01). Compared with the lowest tertile (T1), the highest tertile (T3) of total daily energy expenditure had 3.39% higher BMC and 2.20% higher BMD (P＜0.05); the corresponding differences for vigorous physical activity were 3.33% and 1.94% (P＜0.05), respectively. Conclusion Higher total daily energy expenditure and more time spent in vigorous physical activity are associated with higher total-body BMC and BMD among children aged 6-9 years.

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bone mineral density / bone mineral content / physical activity / children

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ZHANG Tianhong, LUO Jieling, CHEN Ju, XIE Zhiyong, CHEN Gengdong. Association of physical activity levels with bone mineral content and bone mineral density among children aged 6-9 years[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2026, 34(10): 1093-1098 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2026-0112

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