Bone mass in obese subjects.

The inner and outer diameters of the cortex have been measured in 32 obese subjects in the middle of the second metacarpal bone and in the proximal part of radius. The results, which were compared with an age-matched control group, showed that the obese subjects had, on an average, an 11 percent larger cortical area than the controls (p smaller than 0.05). The increased cortical area was caused by the greater outer diameter of the measured bones. There were no significant differences in inner diameters betwee the groups. The inner diameters increased with age in the same way in both obese and control persons, indicating the the former are not protected against osteoporosis in the form of endosteal resorption.