REVIEW

MRC Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Child Health, London, and Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr M Fewtrell, MRC Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK;
m.fewtrell{at}ich.ucl.ac.uk

The importance of bone growth and mineralisation during childhood for bone health in adult life is increasingly accepted, with both nutritional factors¹ and exercise² being recognised as influential for normal skeletal development. The appreciation that infancy and childhood are important periods of life for bone development has led to a need for suitable methods for monitoring bone health, both for research purposes and for clinical monitoring of individuals, and hence to an increasing use of bone densitometry in children. This review discusses the role and potential pitfalls of this technique.

Keywords: DXA; osteoporosis

Abbreviations: BA, bone area; BMC, bone mineral content; BMAD, bone mineral apparent density; BMD, bone mineral density; DXA, dual energy x ray absorptiometry; QCT, quantitative computed tomography

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Howard Bauchner
Arch. Dis. Child. 2003 88: 745. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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