Milk-cereal and whole-grain dietary patterns protect against low bone mineral density among male adolescents and young adults

Abstract

Background/objectives: Evidence supporting the possible effect of dietary factors on adult bone health has emerged in recent decades. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the influence of different dietary patterns on bone mineral density (BMD) among Korean male youth.

Subjects/methods: Data were extracted from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) during 2008-2011. The subjects included 1351 male aged 10-25 years. We defined 'low BMD group' as subjects with a BMD Z-score of -2.0 or less. Dietary patterns were derived from 20 food groups via factor analysis.

Results: Three dietary patterns-meat and vegetable, white rice and kimchi, milk-cereal and whole grain-were derived. The 'milk-cereal and whole-grain' dietary pattern score showed positive association with energy, protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin and vitamin C intakes. Participants in the top tertile of the milk-cereal and whole-grain pattern were less likely to have low BMD, compared with subjects in the bottom tertile (odds ratio=0.36, 95% confidence interval=0.16-0.81, P=0.018).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the milk-cereal and whole-grain dietary pattern may have a benign influence on bone health in the Korean male youth.