Bone quantity and quality of youths working on a farm-a pilot study.

This study investigated the effect of farm-related activities on the bone health of youths. Bone quantity and bone quality were quantitated in 36 adolescents-18 youth with a history of working on farms and 18 youth not involved in farm-related activities. Bone quantity as depicted by bone mineral density (BMD) was measured with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Bone quality was characterized with biomechanical measures based on bone geometry and measures of dynamic bone shock absorption (BSA) properties. Dynamic bone response measures provide preliminary evidence that farm-related physically demanding tasks lead to changes that may predispose the teenagers to degenerative skeletal disorders later in life. Future studies with larger samples need to be carried out to further support the findings.