Milk Supplementation of the Diet of Postmenopausal Chinese Women on a Low Calcium Intake Retards Bone Loss

• Published in: Journal of bone and mineral research 2001-09, Vol.16 (9), p.1704-1709
• Main Authors: Lau, E. M. C., Woo, J., Lam, V., Hong, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Biological and medical sciences; Bone and Bones - physiology; Bone Density; bone mineral density; Calcium - physiology; Calcium, Dietary - administration & dosage; Dietary Supplements; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Eating; Female; Humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Milk - physiology; milk supplementation; osteoporosis; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal - prevention & control; Osteoporosis. Osteomalacia. Paget disease; parathyroid hormone; Parathyroid Hormone - blood; postmenopausal Chinese women; Postmenopause; Tropical medicine
• ISSN: 0884-0431; 1523-4681
• DOI: 10.1359/jbmr.2001.16.9.1704

The Chinese diet is low in calcium (less than 500 mg/day on average), and previous observational studies have suggested an association between a low calcium intake and risk of hip and vertebral fracture. In this study, we randomly assigned 200 postmenopausal Chinese women (age range, 55–59 years) to receive 50 g of milk powder containing 800 mg of calcium per day or to a control group. The following are the mean percentage changes (and SEs) in height and bone mineral density (BMD) over 24 months: for height, −0.1 ± 0.2 cm in the milk supplementation group and −0.2 ± 0.1 cm in the control group; for BMD at the total hip, −0.06 ± 0.22% in the milk supplementation group and −0.88 ± 0.26% in the control group; for BMD at the spine (L1−L4), −0.56 ± 0.29% in the milk supplementation group and −1.5 ± 0.29% in the control group; for total body BMD, −0.32 ± 0.16% in the milk supplementation group and −1.2 ± 0.19% in the control group (p < 0.05 by analysis of covariance [ANCOVA] for repeated measures for height and BMD at all sites). The milk supplementation group had less loss in terms of both height and BMD than the control group (p < 0.05 by ANCOVA for repeated measures). Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentration was lower and serum 25‐hyroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level was higher in the milk supplementation group than the control group at 12 months (p < 0.05 by paired t‐test). We conclude that supplementing the diet of postmenopausal Chinese women with high calcium milk powder retards bone loss.