Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity Is Associated With Higher Bone Mineral Density in Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Decreased mineral bone density (BMD) and reduced lean body mass (LBM) are common amongst children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of our cross-sectional, observational study was to evaluate the relationship between BMD, body composition and physical activity (PA) in children with IBD in remission. METHODS: Total body less head (TLBH) dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to measure BMD, fat mass (FM) and lean body mass (LBM). Triaxial accelerometer for five consecutive days was used to objectivize PA. RESULTS: Forty pediatric IBD patients in clinical remission (24 boys; age 15.3 ±â€Š0.4 years; Crohn disease [CD], n = 20, ulcerative colitis [UC], n = 18, inflammatory bowel disease-unclassified [IBD-U], n = 2) were recruited. Mean BMD was 0.940 g/cm2 and mean BMD z score was -0.42 ±â€Š0.14. Patients with CD had significantly lower BMD than UC counterparts (P < 0.001). Average time spent in PA was 247.24 ±â€Š16.71 min/day with 45.73 ±â€Š8.22 min/day spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). We observed a significant positive correlation between the time spent in MVPA and BMD z score (P = 0.003) and LBM z score (P = 0.026). Multivariate analysis confirmed that the positive correlation of MVPA and BMD z score. There was no significant correlation between daily protein intake and BMD. Cumulative glucocorticoid dose negatively correlated with LBM z score (P = 0.003), but not with BMD z score (P = 0.069). CONCLUSIONS: This study points to a strong positive relationship between MVPA, LBM and BMD. Longitudinal studies are required in order to elucidate the modifiable processes that determine body health and favorable body composition.