BONE-MINERAL DENSITY OF FEMALE ATHLETES IN DIFFERENT SPORTS

Anthropometry, training history, cardiorespiratory and muscular perfor mance capacity, and bone mineral density (BMD) were studied in female orienteers (n = 30), cross-country skiers (n = 28), cyclists (n = 29), weight lifters (n = 18) and in a reference group (n = 25). BMD was me asured at lumbar spine, femoral neck, distal femur, patella, proximal tibia, calcaneus and distal radius by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry . The weight lifters had significantly higher weight adjusted BMD (P < 0.001) than the referents at all sites (9-26%) except in femoral neck and calcaneus. Of the endurance athletes, the orienteers were the onl y group which had significantly higher BMD (P < 0.05) than referents, only at distal femur (5%) and proximal tibia (5%). BMD did not differ significantly at any skeletal site between subjects with different cal cium intake. Weight training seems to provide more effective osteogeni c stimulus than endurance training. The differences in BMD at differen t sites between the groups were consistent with specificity of the sti mulus to the training of the studied sports.