Auslander A, Liang MTC, Gavin J, et al. - Researchers examined if in young sedentary women, body mass index (BMI) could aid in predicting bone bending strength and bone mineral density (BMD).

• Participants were 34 sedentary women, aged 19–27 years, comprising 16 with low BMI (LBMI < 18.5 kg/m²), and 18 with normal or high BMI (NHBMI between 18.5 and 29.9 kg/m²).

• Body weight, lean mass (LM), fat mass (FM), and tibial bending strength were lower in the LBMI group when compared with the NHBMI.

• Bone mineral content (BMC) of the whole body (WB), femoral neck (FN) and total hip (TH), was also lower in the LBMI group when compared with the NHMBI, not the BMD results.

• In multivariate regression analysis, tibia length, age, ulna BMD, and LM were the significant predictors of tibial bending strength.

• A positive correlation of BMI was observed with tibial bending strength, height, weight, FM, LM, body fat%, and BMD of WB, FN, TH, and lumbar spine 1–4.

• BMI is not identified to have any predictive value for bone bending strength and young women with low BMI may also have low BMD.