Association between dietary calcium and phosphorus intakes, dietary calcium/phosphorus ratio and bone mass in the Korean population

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis has become a major public health issue. Among various factors affected bone health, not only dietary calcium and phosphorus intakes, but also the dietary calcium/phosphorus ratio could relate to bone health. Therefore, we evaluated whether dietary calcium and phosphorus intakes, and dietary calcium/phosphorus ratio are associated with bone mass in Korean adults ≥ 20 years of age. METHODS: The analysis used data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional survey of Korean civilians, conducted from January to December 2010. A total of 4,935 participants (2,309 men and 2,626 women) were analyzed in this study. Dietary calcium and phosphorus intakes of the participants were estimated using 24-h dietary recall. Bone mass densities for the whole body, femoral neck, and lumbar spine were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: Dietary calcium intake and dietary calcium/phosphorus ratio were positively related to bone mass density for femoral neck in men ≥ 50 years of age (p = 0.046 and 0.041, respectively). Dietary calcium intake showed positive associations with bone mass density for whole body in premenopausal women (p = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: Increased calcium intake and high dietary calcium/phosphorus ratio might have favorable effects on bone mass in Korean adults. Additional gender- and age-specific studies are needed to further identify the influence of calcium and phosphorus intakes, and the dietary calcium/phosphorus ratio on bone mass.