Association between dietary inflammatory index and bone density in lactating women at 6 months postpartum: a longitudinal study

Yalin Zhou; Xiaoyu Zhu; Minjia Zhang; Yong Li; Wei Liu; Hanming Huang; Yajun Xu

doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7409-6

Association between dietary inflammatory index and bone density in lactating women at 6 months postpartum: a longitudinal study

BMC Public Health. 2019 Aug 9;19(1):1076. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-7409-6.

Authors

Yalin Zhou¹, Xiaoyu Zhu², Minjia Zhang¹, Yong Li¹, Wei Liu¹, Hanming Huang², Yajun Xu^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, NO.38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100083, China.
² Beijing Northern Hospital, NO.10 Chedaogou Road, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, NO.38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100083, China. xuyajun@bjmu.edu.cn.
⁴ Beijing Key Laboratory of Toxicological Research and Risk Assessment for Food Safety, Peking University, Beijing, NO.38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100083, China. xuyajun@bjmu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Background: Chronic inflammation contributes to the risk of osteoporosis and fracture. Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), a novel method appraising the inflammatory potential of diet, has been utilized to examine the association between diet and bone health among postmenopausal women or the elderly. However, its relationship with bone density (BD) in lactating women has not been studied.

Methods: The prospective study was conducted to assess the possible association between DII and maternal BD during lactation. We enrolled 150 lactating women in the cohort. Participants were measured ultrasonic BD as baseline values at 1 month postpartum. After five-month follow up, the participants' BD were measured again. DII scores were calculated from semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) and divided into tertiles. We compared the differences in the changes of BD at 6 months postpartum without or with adjustment for potential covariates across the tertiles.

Results: The women in Q1 of DII scores had less bone mass loss than those in Q2 and Q3 without adjustment for any covariates (p < 0.01); after adjusting demographic characteristics such as BMI (kg/m²) at 6 months postpartum, educational level, metabolic equivalent (MET), daily energy intake (kcal/d), we found that participants in the highest tertile of DII scores had much more bone loss than those in the lowest tertile (p = 0.038). However, in the test for trend, no significant association between DII and the changes of maternal BD at 6 months postpartum was observed.

Conclusions: Chinese lactating women with higher DII scores have more bone mass loss; however significant differences and trends are attenuated and/or disappear depending on covariates and confounders that are taken into account in statistical analysis. The further study should be conducted in larger population to explore whether the significant association between DII and BD exists in Chinese lactating women.

Keywords: Bone density; Chinese lactating women; Dietary inflammatory index; Prospective study.

MeSH terms

Adult
Bone Density / physiology*
China
Diet / adverse effects*
Female
Humans
Inflammation / physiopathology*
Lactation / physiology*
Longitudinal Studies
Postpartum Period
Prospective Studies