Bone mineral density (BMD) is a measure of bone health which reflects risk for osteoporosis. Different types of exercise induce divergent impact on the skeleton influencing accrual of BMD. Previous research reported that female collegiate athletes in aquatic sports had lower BMD than other athletes and controls. PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to conduct a modern comparison of BMD of athletes in weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing sports with normally active controls. METHODS: Height, weight, and calcium intake was assessed in collegiate females (20.0 ± 1.3 years); 39 runners, 9 swimmers, 16 water polo players, and 24 controls. BMD and bone free lean mass were measured via dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at baseline and 5 months later. RESULTS: When controlling for calcium intake and lean mass, there were no statistical differences between groups in BMD at the anterior-posterior (AP) spine, lateral spine, trochanter, total hip, and whole body. At the femoral neck (FN), water polo players had greater BMD than swimmers (0.922 ± 0.030 vs. 0.790 ± 0.033 g/cm2, p = .005). Longitudinally, increases in BMD between visits occurred for swimmers at the AP spine (p = .028), lateral spine (p = .049), FN (p = .049), and trochanter (p = .018) and for controls at whole body (p = .008). CONCLUSION: Bone health in female aquatic athletes was similar to controls and runners, except at the FN where BMD of swimmers was less than water polo players. Some females may continue to accrue BMD in college years. Modern training methods among female college athletes may lead to similar bone health even in sports with different skeletal impact.
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