Impact of Walking and Running on the Heel bone: the Adventist Health Study-2.

AIMS

Physical activity is well recognized for its bone health benefit. We examined the benefit of walk/run/jog on bone health using broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) of the calcaneus.

METHODOLOGY

Caucasian and African American males (n=593) and females (n=1,106) had their calcaneal BUA measured two years later after enrollment into the AHS-2. The association between calcaneal BUA (dB/Mhz) and the distance of walk/run/ jog level per week (miles) was assessed using multiple linear regression.

RESULTS

In a multivariable model adjusted for important covariates, BUA was positively associated with BMI ( < .001), total calcium intake ( =0.31), total protein intake ( =0.38) and inversely associated with age ( < .001) and smoking ( < .05). Compared to women who did not walk/ run/ jog, women walking 10 or more miles per week had an increase in BUA by 4.08 (dB/Mhz) ( =0.03). Similarly, compared to men who did not walk/ run/ jog, men walking 10 or more miles per week had an increase in BUA by 5.97 (dB/Mhz) ( =0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

We concluded that BUA is positively associated with walk/ run/jog after accounting for age, BMI, smoking status, calcium intake, protein intake and estrogen usage.