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Bone and Mineral, 20 (1993) 125-132 125 © 1993 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 0169-6009/93/ 06.00 BAM 00531 High intensity activities in young women site specific bone mass effects among female figure skaters Charles W Slemenda and C Conrad Johnston Indiana University School of M edicine Department o f Medicine, 702 Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA ) (Received 10 March 1992) (Accepted 8 September 1992) Summary We compared young female figure skaters, aged 10-23, with non athletic control subjects to ascertain whether there were differences in skeletal densities at various sites. We also compared other characteristics of body size, including height, weight and percent body fat. Although the skaters were thinner and significantly more likely to have oligo- or amenorrhea, they had similar skeletal densities at upper body sites (spine, arms, ribs) and significantly greater densities in the pelvis and legs. These differences were not evident until the mid-teens, however, suggesting that there is little likelihood of selection bias as the cause of the observed differences. Key words: Bone density; Intense physical activity; Amenorrhea Introduction Patterns of physical activity in the developed countries of the world have changed markedly over the past 20-30 years. Although there is considerable evidence that the fitness levels of children have, on average, declined and that children have become fatter [l], there are subgroups of the population participating in extremely intense activities at levels not before contemplated. Among women, participation in competitive distance running, multiple-sport events biathlons, triathlons), gym- nastics, swimming and skating have all increased in recent years. The long-term skeletal consequences of these temporal changes in activity patterns are not entirely understood. Whereas, we have shown that moderate activity in children is associated with increased skeletal mass [2l and others have reported that retrospectively ascer- Correspondence to: Charles W. Slemenda, Dr.P.H., Indiana University Department of Medicine, 702 Bamhill Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.

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Bone and Mineral, 20 (1993) 125 -132 125

© 1993 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Irela nd L td. All r ights reserved. 0169-6009/93/ 06.00

B AM 00531

H i g h i n t e n s it y a c ti v it ie s in y o u n g w o m e n s it es p e c i f i c b o n e m a s s e f f e c t s a m o n g f e m a l e f i g u r e

s k a t e r s

Charles W Slemenda and C Conrad Johnston

I n d iana Un ive rs i ty Schoo l o f M edic ine D epa r tmen t o f Medicine, 702 Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202

USA )

(Received 10 March 1992)

(Accepted 8 September 1992)

Summary

W e c o m p a r e d y o u n g female f igure skaters , a ged 10-23, w ith non ath le t ic con tro l subjects to ascerta in

wh ethe r there we re differences in skeletal densities at va riou s sites. W e also compared other character i s t i c s

of body s ize, including height , w eight and percent body fat . Although the skaters were th inner and

s ignif icant ly mo re l ike ly to have o l igo- or am enorrhe a, they had s imilar skeletal densit ies at uppe r bodysites (spine, arms, ribs) a n d s i g n i f i c a n t l y greater densities in the p e l v i s a n d legs. These differences were

n o t e v i d e n t u n t i l the mid-teens, however, suggesting that there is l i t t l e l ike l ihood of se lec t ion bias as the

cause of th e observed d ifferences .

Key words: Bone densi ty ; In tense phys ica l ac t iv i ty ; A m e n o r r h e a

Introduction

Pat terns o f phys ica l ac t iv i ty in the deve lop ed cou ntr i es o f the wor ld have chan ged

m a r k e d l y o v e r t h e p a s t 2 0 - 3 0 y e a r s . A l t h o u g h t h e r e i s c o n s i d e r a b l e e v i d e n c e t h a t

the f itness leve l s o f ch ildren have , on average , dec l ined an d that ch ildren have

bec om e fa t t er [ l ] , there are subgro ups o f the pop ula t ion part i c ipat ing in ex tremely

in tense ac t iv i t i e s a t l eve l s not before contemplated . Among women, part i c ipat ion in

com pet i t ive d i s tance running , m ul t ip l e - sport event s b ia th lons , t r ia th lons) , gym -

nasti cs , swim ming a nd skat ing have a l l increased in recent years. T he long- t erm

ske le tal cons eque nces o f these t emp ora l chan ges in ac t iv i ty patt erns are not en ti re ly

unde rstood . W hereas, we have sh ow n that m oder ate ac t iv ity in ch ildren i s assoc ia ted

w ith increased ske letal m ass [2l and oth ers have repo rted that retrospectively ascer-

Correspondence to : Char les W. Slemenda, Dr .P.H. , I n d i a n a U n i v e r s i t y D e p a r t m e n t of Medicine, 702

B am hi l l Dr ive , Ind ianapo l i s, I N 46202, US A.

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t a i ned ch i l dhood ac t i v it y is a s soc i a ted w i th g r ea t e r bo ne m ass i n youn g wom en [3] ,

t he r e a r e a l so c l ea r r i sk s a s soc i a t ed w i th i n t ense ac t i v i t i e s i n young women when

these ac tiv i ties a re assoc ia ted wi th me ns t rua l d i s turba nces [4] . This con t ras t in the

e f fec t s o f exe rci s e on b one d em ons t r a t e t he need t o an swer a nu mb er o f ques t i ons

b e f o r e a r a t io n a l a p p r o a c h t o e x e rc is e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s c a n b e m a d e . H o w m u c h

ac t iv i ty i s appropr ia te and benef ic ia l? What types of ac t iv i ty y ie ld the grea tes t

benef i t s? And which ske le ta l s i tes a re most a f fec ted by spec i f ic ac t iv i t ies? We have

a t t emp ted t o add re s s a spec t s o f t he se ques t i ons w i th t he s t udy de sc r ibed be low,

wh ich com pare s g roup s w i th s t a rk ly con t r a s t i ng ac t i v i t y pa t t e rn s - - f a i rl y s eden t a ry

you ng wom en and r eg iona l and i n t e rna t iona l c a l ibe r f ema le ic e ska t e rs .

Me t h o d s

opulationsAl l o f t he you ng wo men in t he se s t ud ie s we re be tween 10 and 23 yea r s o ld and cauca -

s ian. T he s eden t a ry g roup n = 22 ) was r ec ru it ed fo r a s t udy o f c a l c ium a bso rp t i onand we re aged 10 -23 when me asu red Tab l e 1 ). A l thoug h som e d id pa r t i c ipa t e i n

casua l a th le t ics , none was involved in in tense phys ica l t ra in ing .

The i ce ska t e rs n = 22) we re r ec ru it ed t h roug h the Ind i ana W or ld Ska t i ng

Academy , wh ich conduc t s eva lua t i on camps and t r a in ing p rog rams fo r a l l l eve l s o f

compet i t ive ska te rs , inc luding in te rna t iona l ca l iber compet i tors . The ska te rs involv-

ed in th i s s tudy were both reg iona l and na t iona l / in te rna t iona l leve l ska te rs , aged

11-2 3 an d d iv ided ab ou t equa l ly in the three sepa ra te ska t ing d isc ip lines : i ce

dancers , pa i r s ska te rs and indiv idua l compet i tors . The in te rna t iona l ca l iber ska te rs

t r a ined 25 -40 h pe r w eek on ave rage , nea r ly a l l o f th i s t ime be ing spen t i n we igh t-

bear ing ac t iv i ties on the ice . Da nce t ra in ing w as the only o ther ac t iv i ty to cont r ibu te

Tab l e

t -Tes t s compar ing ska t e r s t o non -a th l e t i c compar i son g roup

V a r i a b le S k a t e r s C o n t r o l s P - v a l u e

A g e ( y e a r s ) 1 7 .7 ± 3 .2 1 6 .0 ± 3 .4 0 .1 1

A g e ( f i r s t m e n s e s ) 1 3 .7 ± 2 .1 1 2 .6 ± 1 .1 0 .0 6

H e i g h t ( i n ) 6 2 .4 ± 2 .8 6 3 .0 ± 2 .8 0 .3 7W eig ht ( lbs ) 111 ± 16 117 ± 21 0 .22

B o d y f a t ( ) 1 8 .7 ± 5 .4 2 4 .3 ± 6 .0 0 .0 0 0 4

O l i g o m e n o r r h e i c a ( ) 2 0 0

A m e n o r r h e i c a ( ) 2 0 0 0 . 01

N o r m a l a ( ) 6 0 1 0 0

A r m s B M D 0 .8 1 ± 0 . 0 9 0 . 7 8 ± 0 . 0 9 0 . 1 2

R i b s B M D 0 . 7 0 ± 0 . 0 6 0 . 6 7 ± 0 . 0 8 0 . 0 8

S p i n e B M D 1 .0 7 ± 0 .1 5 1 .0 1 ± 0 .1 4 0 .0 8

T r u n k B M D 0 . 9 4 ± 0 . 0 9 0 . 8 7 ± 0 . 1 0 0 . 0 0 5

L e g s B M D 1 .2 1 ± 0 .1 4 1 .1 0 ± 0 .1 5 0 .0 0 5

P e l v i s B M D 1 .2 1 ± 0 .1 4 1 .0 6 ± 0 .1 3 0 .0 0 0 1

T o t a l b o d y B M D 1 .1 3 ± 0 .1 1 1 .0 7 ± 0 .1 1 0 .0 2

a E x c l u d e s p r e p u b e r t a l ( n = 2 s k a t e r s , n = 4 c o n t r o l s ) .

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more t han 2 h pe r week fo r any ska t e r ) . The t op - l eve l r eg iona l compe t i t o r s we re

s l igh t ly younger than the e l i t e ska te rs , bu t genera l ly asp i red to compete a t h igher

leve ls . The i r average t ra in ing t ime wa s ab ou t ha l f of the e l i te level ska te rs , bu t d id

not d i f fe r qua l i ta t ive ly ( i . e . v i r tua l ly a l l t ra in ing was ska t ing) .

Bone mass measurements

Tota l bo dy bone m ine ral dens i t y (TB BM D) wa s a s se s sed u s ing dua l- ene rgy x - ray

a b s o r p t i o m e t r y ( D X A ) o n a L u n a r I n s t r u m e n t s D P X - L ( L u n a r C o r p o r a t i o n ,

Madison , WI) . This scan a l so y ie lds va lues for sof t t i s sue , inc luding to ta l g rams of

fa t and lean t i ssue , perce nt bo dy fa t ( BF) and percent l ean t i s sue ( LT) . The prec i -

s i on e r ro r o f TB BM D ( r epea t ed s cans o f ind iv idua ls s epa ra t ed by ab ou t 1 week ) is

o f t he o rde r o f 1 ; p r ec i s ion e r ro r s f o r t o t a l g r ams o f f a t o r le an t i ssue a re som ewh a t

h igher (2-4 ) .

Each scan was ana lyzed and dens i t ies ca lcu la ted for head , a rm s , l egs , pe lv is , t runk ,

r ibs and sp ine . R el iab le re fe rence da ta do n ot ex is t for head o r r ibs . In addi t ion , head

dens it ie s c an be a f f ec t ed by t he p r e sence o f o r t hod on t i c app l i ances (wh ich s eve ra lpa r t i c i pan t s had ) and t he r e fo r e t he se two r eg ions a r e no t d i s cus sed fu r t he r .

Other measurements

All subjec ts were ques t io ned regard ing th e onse t (age a t fi r s t per iod ) and f requen-

cy o f menses ( cyc le s i n t he l a s t yea r ) and t he u se o f b i r th con t ro l med i ca t i ons (now,

ever , dura t ion of use) .

I n fo rma t ion r ega rd ing t r a i n ing pa t t e rn s was a l so co l l e c t ed f rom each a th l e t e ,

us ing ques t ionnai res spec i f ica l ly des igned to focus on the pr imary ac t iv i t i es of

ska te rs . Addi t iona l ques t ions regard ing dance , weight - t ra in ing and o ther ac t iv i t i es

were inc luded for a l l subjec ts . In addi t ion to the scans , an thropometr ic da ta werecol lec ted on the ska te rs . Su bsca pula r sk info ld th ickness , ca l f c i rcumference an d

b i ac romia l w id th we re measu red on each sub j ec t, u s ing s t anda rd me thods [5 ]. These

s i t e s we re s e l ec t ed ba sed on ou r pub l i shed work demons t r a t i ng i ndependen t and

s ignif icant assoc ia t ions be tw een each o f these measu rem ents an d ske le ta l dens i t ies

at mult iple s i tes [6] .

Ca l c ium in t ake w as a s ses sed u s ing a 14 -i tem fo od f r equency q ues t i onna i re wh ich

we have t e s t ed i n s eve ra l popu l a t i ons and shown to be r ep roduc ib l e and wh ich i s

mo de ra t e ly co r r e l a ted w i th 3 -day d i e t d i a r ie s [ 7 ] . M ean ca l c ium in t ake w as 976

mg /day , bu t it d id not cor re la te wi th B M D at any s ite ( -0 .12 < r < 0 .02) and i s

not fur ther d i scussed .

nalysis

Between -g roup compar i sons i n B M D w ere ma de u s ing unpa i r ed t - t es ts . Because

o f d i ff e r ences i n age and bod y we igh t , ad ju s t ed d i f f e rences i n B M D were ca l cu la t ed

f rom gene ra l li nea r mode l s wh ich i nc luded age , we igh t and w he the r o r n o t a p e r son

was a ska te r .

esults

Tab le 1 com pare s t he ska t e r s t o t he non -a th l e t i c g roup . The ska t e rs we re o lde r

(2 years ) ye t l igh te r , a l tho ugh no t s igni f icant ly so . The re w as a h ighly s igni f icant d i f-f e rence i n t he f r equency o f o l igo - and am enor rhea be tween the g roups , w i th 40 o f

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Table 2

Reg ress ion mod el s pred ic t ing ske le ta l dens i t i e s a t se lec ted s it es us ing age we ight

and skat ing status as predictors

Ske le t al s i te P red ic to r C oe f f i c i en t SE P-va lue

Ar ms Age 0 .032 0 .023 0 .16

Age x Age -0 .000 7 0 .0007 0 .32

W eigh t 0 .0023 0 .0004 0 .0001

Ska t ing 0 .0020 0 .0174 0 .91

Sp ine

Legs

Pelvis

Ag e 0.0768 0.0365 0.04

Age x Age -0 .0018 0 .0011 0 .10

W eig ht 0.0031 0.0006 0.0001

Sk at ing -0 .0001 0 .0279 0 .91

Age 0 .089 0 .037 0 .02Age x Age -0 .002 4 0 .0011 0 .03

W eig ht 0.0035 0.0006 0.0001

Sk at ing 0 .059 0 .027 0 .04

Ag e 0.081 0.036 0.03

Age x Age -0 .0022 0 .0011 0 .05

W eight 0 .0032 0 .0006 0 .0001

Ska t ing 0 .121 0 .028 0 .0001

t he ska t e r s hav ing some d i s t u rbance i n no rma l m ens t rua l pa t t e rn s (P < 0 .001 ) andthe ska t e rs expe ri enced mena rche on ave rage 1 yea r l a te r t han t he non - ska t e r s . BM D

was h igher am ong the ska te rs wi th d i f fe rences ranging be tw een 3 .8 (a rms ,

P = 0.12) and 14.1 (pelvis, P = 0.001), with genera l ly grea ter differenc es in the

lower pa r t o f t he ske l e ton .

Reg re s s ion mode l s we re then co ns t ruc t ed t o ad d re s s t he ques t i on o f whe the r t he r e

were s i gn if ic an t d i f fe r ences i n B M D a f t e r co r r ec t ion fo r t he a bove -no t ed d i f fe r ences

in age and weight ( see Table 2) . No s igni f icant e f fec t s of ska t ing were observed for

upp er bo dy s ites . Ho we ver , there remained a s ignif icant e f fec t of ska t ing on low er

bo dy dens i t ies ( leg and pe lv is ). A djus tm ents fo r d i f fe rences in percent b od y fa t , age

a t menarche or t ime s ince menarche , d id not a l te r these resu l t s . Table 3 shows the

Table 3

BMDs , ad ju s t ed fo r we igh t and age , i n ska t e r s and non -a th l e t i c compar i son g roup

Ske le t al s i te Ska te r s C on t ro l s P -va lue

Arm s B M D 0 .79 0 .79 n . s .

Spine BM D 1.03 1 .04 n .s .

Legs BM D 1.19 1 .14 0 .04Pelvis BM D 1.20 1 .08 0 .0001

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1 . 6

1.4

1.2

1 . 0

0 . 8

0 . 6

NON-ATHLETES, PELVIS

SKATERS, PELVIS

o o

o o

o

o

1.5-

1.4-

1.3-

1.2ci

m

1.1-tu-J

1.0 -~

0 . 9 =

0.8 -

0.7 -

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 1 1 2 110 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1 19 20 1

AGE

B NON-ATHLETES, LEGS

SKATERS, LEGS

o

• o

oo o• ; o

@ • •

• : • • •

• • • •o

I I

22 23

I I I I I I I I I I I I I

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

AGE

Fig. i Values of A) pelvis and B) leg BM D by age for skaters dot ted l ine, open ci rcles , O) and

non -skaters sol id l ine, c losed ci rcles, O). Th e f i t ted l ines are the regression of B M D on age an d age 2,

determ ined separately for the skaters a nd no n-ath let ic controls .

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adjus ted BM D s for a rms , sp ine , l egs and pe lv is . A f te r ad jus tm ent for age and weigh t

(and/o r bo dy fa t ) , l eg and pe lv is B M D were s igni ficant ly h igher in the ska te rs

(5 .5 and 1 1 , respec tive ly). F igures la ,b show the ac tua l l eg and pe lv is B M D s for

the ska te rs and cont ro ls by age ( f i t t ed l ine i s the age and age-squared regress ion) .

At both s i tes the ska te rs appeared l i t t l e d i f fe ren t f rom the cont ro ls un t i l about age

15, a t which t ime the s lope for the ska te rs cont inues to increase whi le tha t for the

cont ro ls f la t tens .

We then examined f ac to r s wh ich migh t i n f l uence BMD among t he ska t e r s .

A l though t he ska t e r s w i th mens t rua l d i s t u rbances had l ower dens i t i e s ( abou t 2

depending on ske le ta l s i t e ) than normal ly mens t rua t ing ska te rs (pre-puber ta l sub-

jec t s were exc luded) , these d i f fe rences were not s ignif icant . W e were a l so no t ab le

to demons t ra te d i f fe rences be tween ska t ing d isc ip l ines (e .g . ind iv idua l vs . pa i r s

ska te r s) . How eve r , t he r e was a tr end t ow ard l ower BM Ds am ong t hose wh o t r a ined

mo re hou r s e ach week . Cor r e l a t i ons be tw een hou r s o f t r ai n ing and BM D were be -

tween r = -0 .40 and r = -0 .45 , depending on s i te . Af te r ad jus tments for age (and

age-squared ) there remaine d a s igni f icant nega t ive e ffec t of hours of t ra in ing on legand pe lv ic dens i t ies in the ska te rs , de sp i te the fac t tha t these were the tw o s i tes wi th

the grea tes t d i f fe rences favor ing the ska te rs . F ur th er a d jus tm ents fo r weight , percent

bod y f a t, mens t rua l f r eque ncy and o the r f a c to r s d id n o t subs t an t i a l ly d imin i sh t h is

assoc ia t ion .

iscussion

Thi s s t udy was unde r t aken t o add re s s conce rns r ega rd ing t he f r equency o f mens t rua l

i r regular i ti es am ong th i s gro up of e li t e a th le tes and the p rove n potent ia l o f such

dis turbances to d iminish ske le ta l in tegr i ty [4 ,8] . These ska te rs , however , demon-s t ra ted only smal l (ab ou t 2 ) nega t ive e f fec ts of m ens t rua l i r regular i t ies on the i r

ske le tons . Surpr i s ingly , ske le ta l dens i t ies among the ska te rs were s igni f icant ly

g rea t e r t han dens i ti e s in non - ska t e r s i n t he l ower pa r t o f the ske l e ton and no t

s igni ficant ly d i f fe ren t e l sewhere . A s imi la r l ack o f de t r imenta l e f fec t s in e l i te

oa r swo men wi th i r regu l a r m enses ha s been obse rved [9 ]. The l i ke li hood o f s el ec ti on

bias in observa t iona l s tud ies mus t a lways be cons idered , bu t in th i s case the d i f -

f e r ences be tween ska t e r s and con t ro l s a r e no t ev iden t among t he younge r ska t e r s ,

bu t s eem r a the r t o deve lop i n l a t e r ado l e scence and young adu l t hood . Th i s wou ld

sugges t tha t se lec t ion for ska te rs to be drawn f rom a po pu la t ion wi th grea te r ske le ta l

densi t ies is less l ikely, s ince al l of these skaters began training at very young ages.

The ska te rs a re smal le r and l igh te r than the non-ska te rs a t a l l ages .

The potent ia l mechanisms for increas ing ske le ta l dens i t ies in ice ska te rs inc lude

two prom inent poss ib il i ti es . The t ra in ing of these ska te rs is in tense and dom inated

by r epe t i ti ous p r ac t ic e o f e ach a spec t o f the i r p rog rams , i nc lud ing jum ps , sp in s and

other e lements . The jumps , which~are n ow the fo cus of com pet i t ive ska t ing , invo lve

cons ide r ab l e impac t upo n t he co mp le t i on o f e ach j ump , w i th d i s si pa t ion o f t he

ene rgy f rom such j um ps abso rbed m a in ly i n t he musc l e s o f t he uppe r l egs and h ip s.

S imilar ly , the t rans i t ion in to jum ps ( t ransfer r ing the energy of s t roking in to jum p-

ing ) a l so r equ i r e s t he u se o f t he se s ame musc l e g roups and may p roduce s imi l a r

forces on the ske le ton . S i te spec i fic pos i t ive e f fec t s on bo ne m ass in e l i t e a th le tes hav e

been r epo r t ed fo r t he fo r ea rms o f t enn is p l aye r s [ 10 ] and pa r a ll e l nega t ive e f f ec ts

have been obse rved i n hemip l eg i a , compar ing t he a f f ec t ed t o t he una f f ec t ed l imbs

[ i l l .

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I t is unc lea r w hy t he app a ren t ske le t a l bene fi t s o f ska ti ng d o n o t em erge un t il t he

mid - teens , s ince mo s t o f t he ska t e r s began com pe t ing a t qu i t e a yo ung age . A l though

th is is reassur ing in te rm s o f the ro le o f se lec t ion b ias in these da ta , one co uld

specu la t e t ha t t he bene f i t s o f ska t i ng on ly acc rue d u r ing t he r ap id g ro wth p roces s ,

pe rhaps by ex t end ing t he l eng th o f t ime du r ing wh ich ske le t a l mode l l ing occu r s . I f

i n tense ac t i v it y a f fec t s bone mass by s l owing r emode l i ng , t hen con t i nued ac t iv i t y a t

th i s l eve l m ay be necessary to m ain ta in the advan tages n oted . I t is a l so not c lear why

t h e r e w a s a t e n d e n c y t o w a r d l o w e r B M D s a m o n g t h o s e w h o s p e n t t h e g r e a t e s t

am oun t o f t ime t r a ining , a l t hough t h is l evel o f t ra i n ing m ay be a s soc i a t ed w i th more

subt le d i s turbances in gonadal func t ion [12] , o r a l te ra t ions in o ther sys tems which

we cou ld no t measu re .

The absence o f a s i gni fi c ant de t r imen t a l e f f ec t o f d i s t u rbed m ens t rua l p a t t e rn s o n

bon e m ass was surpr is ing . Th e smal l (ab ou t 2 ) def ic i t in those wi th mens t rua l

i r regular i ti es w ou ld not g enera l ly be cause for c linica l conc ern a nd sugges ts tha t in-

tense weight -bear ing ac t iv i t i es may d iminish the nega t ive e f fec t s of these i r regular -

i ti es on bone m ass. H owev e r , c au t i on i n th i s r ega rd i s r equ i red . Few w om en , o the rthan profess iona l a th le tes , have ac t iv i ty leve ls approaching those observed here .

Addi t iona l ly , s ta t i s t i ca l power to de tec t modes t d i f fe rences in BMD (e .g . 0 .05

g / cm 2 ) va r i ed cons ide r ab ly . A l thou gh t he r e was g r ea te r t han 70 pow er t o de t ec t

d i f fe r ences be tween amenor rhe i c ska t e r s and con t ro l s , t he r e was on ly 40 -50 pow er

to de tec t such d i ffe rences wi th in the sk a t ing group . M oreo ver , the f requ ency, in tens i -

t y and na tu r e o f t he ac t iv i ti e s o f the se ska t e r s a r e un ique and a r e ce r t a in ly no t pos s i-

b l e f o r t he va s t ma jo r i t y o f women . F ina l l y , we have obse rved ve ry l ow ske l e t a l

dens i t ies in o ther female a th le tes whose ac t iv i ty pa t te rns , whi le ex t remely in tense ,

d i f fe r in the ex ten t o f weigh t -bear ing (e.g. e l i te t r ia th le tes ), sugges t ing tha t there m ay

be charac te r i s t ics unique to ska t ing which y ie ld the apparent subs tan t ia l benef i t s tosom e ske le ta l si tes. A l thou gh these da ta a re reassur ing for th i s grou p of e l it e a th le tes ,

pers i s ten t mens t rua l i r regular i t i es in those wi th more modera te exerc i se habi t s

should s t i l l be cons idered a cause for concern and c l in ica l a t ten t ion .

cknowledgements

W e w o u l d l ik e t o a c k n o w l e d g e t h e c o o p e r a t i o n o f th e I n d i a n a W o r l d S k a t i ng

Academy and t he Un i t ed S t a t e s F igu re Ska t i ng Assoc i a t i on fo r t he i r a s s i s t ance i n

fac i l it a t ing the par t ic ipa t ion of the ska te rs in th i s s tudy . This wor k i s sup por te d b y

AG 05793 US Publ ic Heal th Serv ice .

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