Monday June 30, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- Physical exercise can help weight loss, but a study in Journal of Musculoskeletal & Neuronal Interactions suggests that exercise-induced weight loss may weaken bone strength.

Exercise-induced weight loss is known to decrease areal bone mineral density (aBMD).  The current study finds that exercise-induced weight loss can also weaken bone strength in postmenopausal women.

For the study, 14 women participated in a 4-month endurance exercise weight loss intervention and in the meantime, 10 controls who had stable weight were followed also for 4 months.  Women in the study group were 54.6 years old compared to controls aged 54.4 years.  At baseline, body mass index was 32.1 kg/m2 and 27.9 kg/m2 in the study group and the control group, respectively.

As a result of this weight loss intervention, the weight loss group lost 3.0 kg on average, which was predominantly fat mass.  The weight loss group had a significant decrease in bone strength measured in section modulus.

The study concluded “weight loss may lead to decreased bone strength before changes in BMD (bone mineral density) are detected. Further studies are needed to determine whether bone-targeted exercise can preserve bone strength during WL (weight loss). (david Liu, PHD)

Shea KL, Gozansky WS, Sherk VD, Swibas TA, Wolfe P, Scherzinger A, Stamm E, Kohrt WM.  Loss of bone strength in response to exercise-induced weight loss in obese postmenopausal women: results from a pilot study.   Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2014 Jun;14(2):229-238.