A Comparison of Bmd Values in Upper Body, Dominant Leg and Non-Dominant Leg in Professional Female Handball and Futsal Players and Non-Athletes

Bone health later in life may rely on bone mass accumulation during growth. In fact, the risk of osteoporosis is affected by the peak bone mass attained. In general, before the age of 20, the bone mass accrual is mostly marked between 11 and 14 years of age in girls. It has been demonstrated that weight-bearing physical activities increase bone mass acquisition. The purpose of this study was to compare BMD of upper body and dominant and non-dominant leg in professional female handball, futsal players and non-athletes. Fifteen handball players (mean ± SD, age: 23.6 ± 3.1 years, height: 169.4 ± 3.6 cm, weight: 62.9 ± 5.7 kg) and 15 futsal players (mean ± SD, age: 24.3 ± 2.8 years, height: 161.1 ± 4.4 cm, weight: 54.3 ± 7 kg) and 15 healthy non-athlete females (mean ± SD, age: 23.8 ± 2years, height: 160.9 ± 7 cm, weight: 51.5 ± 9.6 kg) were selected for the study. The level of activity and habits of all subjects were noted. BMD was measured by DEXA at the lumbar spines and femoral neck, femoral trochanter of dominant and non-dominant legs. ANOVA was used for analysis of data. BMD values of upper body (1263.2 mg/cm ) in futsal players were significantly higher than two other 2