Playing basketball and volleyball during adolescence is associated with higher bone mineral density in old age: the Bunkyo Health Study

Hikaru Otsuka; Hiroki Tabata; Huicong Shi; Mari Sugimoto; Hideyoshi Kaga; Yuki Someya; Hitoshi Naito; Naoaki Ito; Abulaiti Abudurezake; Futaba Umemura; Tsubasa Tajima; Saori Kakehi; Yasuyo Yoshizawa; Muneaki Ishijima; Ryuzo Kawamori; Hirotaka Watada; Yoshifumi Tamura

doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1227639

Playing basketball and volleyball during adolescence is associated with higher bone mineral density in old age: the Bunkyo Health Study

Front Physiol. 2023 Oct 12:14:1227639. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1227639. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Hikaru Otsuka^{1

2}, Hiroki Tabata¹, Huicong Shi^{1

2}, Mari Sugimoto², Hideyoshi Kaga³, Yuki Someya⁴, Hitoshi Naito³, Naoaki Ito³, Abulaiti Abudurezake¹, Futaba Umemura², Tsubasa Tajima³, Saori Kakehi¹, Yasuyo Yoshizawa⁵, Muneaki Ishijima^{1

2

6}, Ryuzo Kawamori^{1

2

3}, Hirotaka Watada^{1

3}, Yoshifumi Tamura^{1

2

3

5

7}

Affiliations

¹ Sportology Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of Sports Medicine and Sportology, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Graduate School of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, Inzai-shi, Chiba, Japan.
⁵ Department of Healthy Life Expectancy, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Medicine for Orthopaedics and Motor Organ, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ Faculty of International Liberal Arts, Juntendo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

Introduction: Exercise is beneficial for increasing areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in adolescence and maintaining it in old age. Moreover, high-impact sports are more effective than low-impact sports in increasing aBMD. This study aimed to determine the types of adolescent sports played in school-based sports clubs associated with aBMD in old age. Methods: In total, 1,596 older adults (681 men and 915 women, age: 65-84 years) living in an urban area of Japan were evaluated for the femoral neck and lumbar spine aBMD using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The association between adolescent sports played in sports clubs and aBMD in old age was analyzed using multiple regression analysis, with femoral neck and lumbar spine aBMD as dependent variables, and sports type and participant characteristics such as age, body weight, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level, as independent variables. Results: For the femoral neck, basketball was associated with aBMD in older men (β = 0.079, p < 0.05) and women (β = 0.08, p < 0.01), whereas current body weight and 25(OH)D level were associated with aBMD in both sexes. For the lumbar spine, volleyball (β = 0.08, p < 0.01) and swimming (β = 0.06, p < 0.05) was significantly associated with lumbar spine aBMD, whereas current body weight, 25(OH)D, and diabetes mellitus were associated with aBMD in older women. Conclusion: Both men and women who played basketball in adolescence had higher femoral neck aBMD in old age. Moreover, women who played volleyball in adolescence had higher lumbar spine aBMD in old age.

Keywords: bone mass; cross-sectional study; exercise history; femoral neck; lumbar spine; sports type.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by MEXT-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities, 2014-2018 (S1411006) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18H03184 and JP20K23261; Mizuno Sports Promotion Foundation; and the Mitsui Life Social Welfare Foundation. The results of present study do not imply endorsement by the ACSM and are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.