Articles

Effect of Nutrient Intake, Nutritional Status, Physical Activity and Sunlight Exposure on Bone Mineral Density in Women: A Systematic Review

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Osteoporosis is a condition or disease that can cause bones to become brittle and break easily. The risk of osteoporosis in women is greater than in men, which is four times greater. Bone mineral density (BMD) or bone density is the total mineral present in bone. Measurement of BMD is important to show the degree of bone mineralization associated with osteoporosis. There are factors associated with reduced bone density. Thus, this systematic review aimed to analyze several factors related to BMD in women including nutrient intake, nutritional status, physical activity, and sunlight exposure. Studies in this systematic review were gathered by the (PRISMA) guidelines and identified through PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect databases from 2017 until 2022. A total of 17 articles passed the eligibility and were analyzed in this systematic review. Studies found the effect of nutrient intake, BMI, physical activity, and sunlight exposure on BMD in women from different age groups. So it is necessary to make eating habits with good nutritional intake and have a lifestyle that routinely carries out sufficient physical activity and gets sufficient sunlight to improve and maintain bone health until old age.

Pregnancy Associated Osteoporosis: Knowledge Attitude and Practice of Exercise among Pregnant Women in a Selected Nigerian Community

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Pregnancy induced decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) often occurs at the femoral necks, lumbar spine and other sites during the second or third trimester of pregnancy leading to pain in the hips, pelvis, low back etc and sometimes fractures even with mild trauma/falls. Exercising during pregnancy has been known to offer several benefits including improving bone health. However, there is paucity of studies investigating the knowledge, attitude and practice of pregnant women towards exercising to minimize the risk for osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of exercise for the prevention of pregnancy associated osteoporosis among urban and rural dwelling pregnant women in a selected Nigerian community. A total of 258 (168 urban dwelling and 90 rural dwelling) pregnant women were recruited and subjected to interview using a pre-validated questionnaire on KAP of exercise in the prevention of Pregnancy associated osteoporosis. The urban and rural dwelling women had moderate and poor knowledge of exercising for osteoporosis prevention respectively. Both groups of women had moderately positive attitude towards exercising for osteoporosis prevention. Also both groups of women had poor practice towards exercising for osteoporosis prevention. A significant association was only found between having another source of income in the family and the women’s attitude towards exercise.