Article Sidebar
Published:
Aug 11, 2017Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
The effect of ethnicity on appendicular bone mass in white, coloured and Indian schoolchildren
Abstract
Ethnic differences in the incidence and prevalence of osteoporosis have been shown throughout the world. In South Africa the prevalence of osteoporosis is much higher in whites than in blacks. This is surprising, since factors that might predispose to reduce bone mass are more preponderant in black communities. The present research was undertaken to detertnine whether differences in bone mass during the period of bone accretion could explain the difference in the incidence of osteoporosis. In this paper we report on differences in appendicular bone Inass between white, coloured and Indian children and teenagers (6 - 18 years) from Johannesburg. The effects of weight, height, puberty and skinfold thickness on bone mass were also assessed. The bone width (BW) of white boys was greater than that of Indian boys, while the bone mineral content (BMC) and BMC/BW were greater in white boys than in both Indian and coloured boys. After adjustment for differences in weight and height, the BW of coloured boys was significantly greater than that of white boys, while all differences in BMC and BMC/BW becaIne non-significant. For girls there were no significant differences in bone mass measurements, but after adjustment for height and weight coloured girls had significantly greater BMC and BMC/BW than either white or Indian girls. This greater weight- and height-adjusted bone mass in coloured girls is consistent with the impression of a lower incidence of osteoporosis in coloured women than in white women.
