Korean J Fam Med. 2012;33:287-295 http://dx.doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.2012.33.5.287 Bone Mineral Density and Food-frequency in Korean Adults: The 2008 and 2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Original Article Eui-Hyun Yoon, Hyoung Noh, Hyang-Mee Lee, Hwan-Sik Hwang*, Hoon-Ki Park, Yong-Soon Park1 Department of Family Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine; 1Department of Food and Nutrition, Hanyang University College of Human Ecology, Seoul, Korea Background: Diet and Nutrition are important modulators of bone health in men and women. We investigated the associations between frequency of food intake among certain food groups and bone mineral density (BMD) in a large population of Korean adults. Methods: We used the data from Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during 2008 to 2009. Participants were aged 20 years and over. BMDs were measured at lumbar spine and femoral neck with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Dietary and supplement intakes were assessed by food-frequency questionnaire. We used multiple linear regression analysis to evaluate the relationships between annual food-frequency of each food group and BMD. Results: After adjustment of multiple covariates, femoral neck and lumbar BMD significantly increased as the frequency of fruit consumption increased in both men and women. Frequency of other carbohydrates consumption was significantly associated with greater femoral neck and lumbar BMD for women. Frequency of milk and dairy product consumption was significantly associated with greater femoral neck BMD in men. Other food groups, however, had no significant associations with BMDs. Conclusion: Frequent consumption of fruit has a positive association with BMDs in men and women. Milk and dairy products and other carbohydrates also had positive effects on BMD for men and women, respectively. Keywords: Bone Density; Food-frequency; Fruit; Fishes; Staple Carbohydrates; Dairy Products; Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Received: August 31, 2011, Accepted: August 16, 2012 *Corresponding Author: Hwan-Sik Hwang Tel: 82-2-2290-8741, Fax: 82-2-2281-7279 E-mail: fmhwang@hanyang.ac.kr Korean Journal of Family Medicine Copyright © 2012 The Korean Academy of Family Medicine This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Korean J Fam Med INTRODUCTION Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue which consequently increases bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture.1) Increased risk of osteoporotic fracture incurs great morbidity and mortality and direct costs for health services. As populations age, the frequency of osteoporotic fractures is certain to increase in both men and women. Therefore, osteoporosis and related fractures become major important public Vol. 33, No. 5 Sep 2012 | 287