Relationship among Life Style, Body Composition, and Bone Mineral Density BMD in Female College Students

Kang, Hee Young

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was done to investigate the relationship among the life style, body composition, and BMD in female college students. METHOD: For this study, 320 female college students aged 18 through 35 were sampled. Data were collected from June to September, 2007. The BMD was measured with Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry, body composition with the Body Composition Analyzer, and stature was also taken.
RESULTS
Our findings indicated that the relationship among the life style, body composition and BMD significantly varied and that meal times (F=3.318, p= .038) and muscle mass (r= .240, p7lt; .001) and fat-free mass (r= .233, p< .001) showed a significant positive relationship with BMD.
Conclusions
Our findings indicated that optimal levels of the fat-free mass and muscle mass should be maintained. Since a decrease in the quantity of bones is expected to cause health issues for women after menopause, it is necessary to reduce risk factors including the unhealthy life style of college women that may lead to osteoporosis, and to introduce preventive nursing interventions against osteoporosis.