OBJECTIVETo assess bone mineral content (BMC) of 15 - 17 year-old dancers and high school females and analyze the relationship between physical activity status and BMC.

METHODSSixty dancers and 77 healthy controls aged 15 - 17 years old were enrolled in our study. BMC in the total body and forearm were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) while body weight and height were also measured. Physical activity information was collected by "one-year physical activity questionnaire".

RESULTSThe physical activity level (PAL) and the average daily energy expenditure (EE) of dancers were all higher than controls (PAL: 2.17 +/- 0.34 vs 1.63 +/- 0.34, t = 7.283; EE: (6876.43 +/- 1036.72) kJ vs (5388.43 +/- 920.83) kJ, t = 7.214, both P values < 0.01). The dancers showed lower BMC/height at total body and arms compared with the controls (the total body BMC/height was (13.896 +/- 1.308) vs (14.494 +/- 1.272) g/cm, F = -2.563); and the BMC/height of left and right arm were (0.779 +/- 0.088) vs (0.829 +/- 0.101) g/cm (F = -2.892) and (0.766 +/- 0.093) vs (0.829 +/- 0.097) g/cm (F = -3.650) respectively, all these P values were < 0.01.Yet after adjusting age and BMI, the dancers showed higher BMC/height at total body and legs, the corresponding values were (14.550 +/- 0.146) vs (13.947 +/- 0.131) g/cm (F = 7.868), (2.681 +/- 0.033) vs (2.389 +/- 0.030) g/cm (F = 36.520), (2.821 +/- 0.031) vs (2.450 +/- 0.028) g/cm (F = 65.279), all these P values were < 0.01. While no differences were found with controls at non-weight bearing sites (arms). Daily period (h) of training was significantly related to BMC/height of legs, total body (r value were 0.618, 0.448 and 0.554 respectively, all the P values < 0.01), while the history of training was also correlated with BMC/height of two legs (r value were 0.38 and 0.304 respectively, both P values < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe adolescent dancers showed higher BMC after adjusting age and BMI, which was attributed to the long-term high level weight-bearing physical activity.