Research Article

Associations of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Intake with Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women

Table 1

One-year characteristics of 266 postmenopausal women using or not using hormone therapy (HT).

CharacteristicsAll women ()HT status
HT ()No HT ()

Age (years)56.7 ± 4.755.9 ± 4.457.5 ± 5.0a
Height (cm)163.2 ± 6.5163.3 ± 7.0163.0 ± 6.1
Weight (kg)68.4 ± 11.868.2 ± 11.868.6 ± 11.7
BMI (kg/m2)25.6 ± 3.925.5 ± 4.225.7 ± 3.7
Years HT1.4 ± 1.62.8 ± 1.10.00c
Years postmenopausal5.7 ± 3.04.9 ± 2.56.5 ± 3.1c
Nutrient variables
 Energy (kcals)1704 ± 3611734 ± 3721672 ± 349
 Total fat (g)58 ± 2160 ± 2156 ± 20
 Calcium from diet (mg)769 ± 258785 ± 258753 ± 258
 Total calcium (mg)1524 ± 2961552 ± 2881497 ± 302
 Iron from diet (mg)15 ± 514 ± 415 ± 5
 Total iron (mg)17 ± 918 ± 1116 ± 7
PUFA (g)
 Total PUFA 11.7 ± 4.412.11 ± 4.5811.26 ± 4.25
 Total n-6 fatty acid (n-6)10.4 ± 4.010.75 ± 4.129.96 ± 3.82
 Linoleic acid, n-6 (LA)10.2 ± 4.010.60 ± 4.139.78 ± 3.84
 Arachidonic acid, n-6 (AA)0.10 ± 0.10.10 ± 0.050.11 ± 0.06
 Total n-3 fatty acids (n-3)1.30 ± 0.51.29 ± 0.551.23 ± 0.50
-Linolenic acid, n-3, (ALA)1.10 ± 0.51.17 ± 0.531.11 ± 0.48
 EPA0.05 ± 0.070.04 ± 0.060.05 ± 0.08
 DHA0.11 ± 0.150.10 ± 0.120.12 ± 0.17
 EPA + DHA0.16 ± 0.210.14 ± 0.170.18 ± 0.25
 n-6 : n-38.45 ± 1.878.62 ± 1.988.27 ± 1.74
 LA : ALA9.30 ± 2.209.47 ± 2.289.15 ± 2.04
Bone mineral density (g/cm2)
 Femur neck 0.878 ± 0.1220.896 ± 0.1230.858 ± 0.118b
 Ward’s triangle 0.760 ± 0.1420.778 ± 0.1370.742 ± 0.146a
 Femur trochanter 0.751 ± 0.1130.767 ± 0.1130.733 ± 0.112a
 Lumbar spine L2–L41.133 ± 0.1601.164 ± 0.1431.101 ± 0.171c
 Total body 1.112 ± 0.0841.129 ± 0.0781.095 ± 0.086c

PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acid; ALA: -linolenic acid (18 : 3 n-3); total n-3: total omega-3; LA: linoleic acid (18 : 2 n-6); AA: arachidonic acid (20 : 4 n-6); total n-6: total omega-6; EPA: eicosapentaenoic acid (20 : 5 n-3); and DHA: docosahexaenoic acid (22 : 6 n-3).
, , and , between HT and no HT, independent sample -test.