OBJECTIVESIn order to understand the effect of long term consumption of mineral-fortified dephytinized soy milk powder on skeletal health in children, biological effects of mineral-fortified dephytinized soy milk powder, dephytinized mineral-unfortified soy milk powder and fresh mineral-fortified cow milk were compared.

METHODSTotally, 90 boys aged 12 to 14 years were involved in the study and were given daily with mineral-fortified dephytinized soy milk powder, dephytinized soy milk powder and fresh fortified cow milk, respectively, for two months. The blood samples were collected from all the subjects for measuring activity of serum bone specific alkaline phosphatase and serum level of oesteocalcin, and the urine samples were collected for determining urine C-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (CTx).

RESULTSAfter two-month intervention, serum level of oesteocalcin increased significantly in the all groups, (16.42 +/- 11.25) micro g/L for the group with fortified soy milk powder, (18.86 +/- 11.57) microg/L for the group with unfortified soy milk powder and (13.81 +/- 10.06) microg/L for the group with fortified cow milk, respectively. The activity of bone specific alkaline phosphatase significantly decreased in the all groups, by (0.28 +/- 0.40) micromol x s(-1) x L(-1) for the group with fortified soy milk powder, (0.26 +/- 0.35) micromol x s(-1) x L(-1) for the group with unfortified soy milk powder, and (0.17 +/- 0.28) micromol x s(-1) x L(-1) for the group with fortified cow milk, respectively. As well as, urine level of CTx decreased significantly, by (349.1 +/- 380.3) mg/L for the group with fortified soy milk powder, (260.4 +/- 412.4) mg/L for the group with unfortified soy milk powder, and (354.4 +/- 404.7) mg/L for the group with fortified cow milk, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSLong term consumption of mineral-fortified and dephytinized soy milk powder could improve bone mass retention and calcium nutrition status efficiently in children.