Bone mineral density in relation to anthropometric properties, physical activity and smoking in 75-year-old men and women.

Bone mineral content (BMC, g.cm-2) and density (BMD, g.cm-3) were studied in 75-year-old men and women in relation to anthropometric and certain life-style factors. This study covered all the men and women born in 1914 who were residents in the city of Jyväskylä in 1989 (N = 388). A hundred and three men and 188 women participated in bone measurements performed at the calcaneus using a 125I-photon absorption method. BMC was on average 36% and BMD 17% higher in the men than in the women. BMC and BMD associated with body mass in both sexes, and with body fat and use of estrogen in the women. There was a negative correlation between the BMD values and the number of cigarettes smoked over the entire life course in both sexes. Moderate physical activity was related to higher BMC in men. Men and women who had been physically active earlier in their life tended to show higher BMD values than those who had been more sedentary.