^*Human Nutrition, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Correspondence: Susan I. Barr Human Nutrition, University of British Columbia, 2205 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4. E-mail: susan.barr@ubc.ca

^*The costs of publication of this article were defrayed, in part, by the payment of page charges. This article must, therefore, be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Received 5 May 2006; Revised  00; Accepted 20 November 2006.

Abstract

Objective: The objective was to investigate whether calcium intake is independently associated with body fat in peripubertal girls.

Research Methods and Procedures: A total of 45 healthy premenarcheal girls (initially 10.5 0.6 years of age) completed a 2-year prospective observational study. Percent body fat and trunk fat (by DXA), height, weight, maturational stage, and eating attitudes (children's Eating Attitudes Test [EAT]) were measured at baseline and at 1 and 2 years. Physical activity (by questionnaire) and calcium intake (by calcium-specific food frequency questionnaire and 3-day food records) were assessed at 6-month intervals.

Results: Girls with 2-year mean calcium intake below and above the median had similar age, height, lean mass, and maturational stage at baseline, but girls below the median had significantly higher baseline percentage body fat (29.3 10.3% vs. 22.0 6.8%, p < 0.01) and trunk fat (24.2 10.6% vs. 15.8 6.8%, p < 0.01). However, differences were no longer significant when covariates (most notably children's EAT dieting score) were considered. Regression analysis revealed that dieting score was a consistent positive predictor of percentage body and trunk fat at all cross-sectional time-points, accounting for >20% of the variance, but did not predict 2-year change in percentage fat. Calcium intake did not enter longitudinal regression equations for 2-year change in percentage fat.

Discussion: In this group of girls, an inverse cross-sectional association between calcium intake and body fat appeared to result from avoidance of foods high in calcium by girls who were concerned about their body weight or shape. Calcium intake was not associated with change in fat over time.