Puberty and mineralization of the skeleton in girls.

We studied the acquisition of bone mineral and related changes in body mass, pubertal status, and sex hormones in 75 healthy prepubertal and pubertal girls aged 7.5-16 years. Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (L-1, L-2, L-3, L-4) was measured in children by quantitative computerized tomography. Skeletal mineralization accelerated markedly at puberty. Age, weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were highly correlated with bone mineral density.