A study of 140 overweight children age 7-11 who got little regular exercise found that the 30 percent with signs of poor blood sugar regulation had 4-5 percent less bone mass, a measure of bone strength, said Dr. Norman Pollock, bone biologist at MCG’s Georgia Prevention Institute.

The study is the first to suggest the association between weaker bones and type 2 diabetes risk in children. Type 2, which is becoming more common in children, is often associated with obesity and inactivity; type 1 diabetes, believed to result from genes and environmental triggers, is known to be associated with poor bone health.

“This finding provides the first clue linking childhood obesity to skeletal fractures,” said Pollock, first author on the study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. “While overweight children may have more bone mass than normal-weight kids, it may not be big or strong enough to compensate for their larger size.” [Read more...]