Comparative changes in radial-bone density of elderly female lactoovovegetarians and omnivores

A 5-y prospective study of the changes in radial-bone mineral density (BMD) of elderly white women (mean age, 81 y) living in four residential communities, including 49 Seventh-day Adventist lactoovovegetarians and 140 omnivores, was undertaken to determine the potential effects of usual dietary calcium in preventing the loss of BMD, measured by single-photon absorptiometry, at two radial sites. Changes in BMD and other variables from baseline (1983) to follow-up (1988) were: 1) mean calcium intakes in 1988 of 996 mg/d for omnivores and 733 mg/d for lactoovovegetarians changed little from 1983, 2) all women lost BMD (P < 0.05) over the 5 y period, 3) the annual BMD loss rates were ≈1% at each site, 4) BMD loss was independent of calcium intake, 5) BMD loss rates were similar in both lactoovovegetarians and omnivores, and 6) the greater the loss of lean body mass, the greater the BMD loss (P < 0.05).