13 Physical activity and HSA analysis in adolescent girls and boys

Abstract

Physical loading increases bone mass, bone mineral density and bone strength in adolescence. During adolescence, sexual dimorphism in bone, lean and fat mass increases, giving rise to greater size and strength of the male skeleton. However, little is known about the gender differences in femoral neck geometry in adolescent athletes. Methods: 12 adolescent boys and 8 adolescent girls participated in this study. They were all athletes practicing impact sports (at mean 8 h/week). Body composition, total body, lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).