ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Higher body mass, older age and higher monounsaturated fatty acids intake reﬂect better quantitative ultrasound parameters in Inuit preschoolers Jessy El Hayek1,2, Grace Egeland1,2 and Hope Weiler1,2* 1School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; 2Centre for Indigenous Peoples’, Nutrition and Environment, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, QC, Canada Objectives. Investigate the effects of selected factors associated with quantitative ultrasound parameters among Inuit preschoolers living in Arctic communities (568 32? 728 40?N). Materials and methods. Children were selected randomly in summer and early fall (n 296). Dietary intake was assessed through the administration of a 24-h dietary recall (24-h recall) and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Anthropometry was measured using standardized procedures. Plasma 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were measured using a chemiluminescent assay (Liaison, Diasorin). Quantitative ultrasound parameters were measured using Sahara Sonometer, (Hologic Inc.). Results. Children divided by speed of sound (SoS) and broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) quartiles were not different for age (years), sex (M/F), calcium (mg/d) and vitamin D intake (mg/d) and plasma 25(OH)D concentration (nmol/L). However, children in the highest BUA and SoS quartile had higher body mass index (BMI) compared to those in quartile 1. Using multivariate linear regression, higher BMI, older age and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) intake were predictors of BUA while only BMI was a predictor of SoS. Conclusions. Further investigation assessing intakes of traditional foods (TF) and nutrients affecting bone parameters along with assessment of vitamin D status of Inuit children across seasons is required. Keywords: speed of sound; broadband ultrasound attenuation; preschoolers; Inuit; vitamin D Received: 21 December 2011; Revised: 18 April 2012; Accepted: 25 May 2012; Published: 9 July 2012 Rgenetic eaching potential, the highest or peak reducing bone mass the rate within of one’s bone loss are the main strategies for reducing the risk of osteoporosis (1). Although 60 80% of peak bone mass is determined by genetics (2), nutrition and lifestyle factors of relevance to children and development of bone mass include, body weight and composition, physical activity and nutrition (2,3). Ethnicity is also known to have a strong impact on bone health (4 6). In adults, those who are black have higher bone mineral density (BMD) compared to Caucasians (6) and Caucasians have higher BMD than Asians (7). These differences are also apparent in new- borns (8) and continue later in childhood (9). On the other hand, Aboriginal American women have higher rates of bone loss compared to their white counterparts (5), while Aboriginal Canadian women have lower BMD z-scores compared to their white counterparts (4). How- ever, data from Aboriginal newborns did not show lower whole body or regional bone mineral content (10), suggesting that disparities in the postnatal environment underlies the differences observed in adults. Several dietary and lifestyle factors may predispose Aboriginal and Inuit people to low BMD, beginning as early as childhood. Traditional food (TF) is rich in nutrients that would support bone health, including protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), zinc, and vitamins A, D, and C (11,12). Instead of complementing the diet with market food (MF) rich in nutrients including calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin K (3,13) that would optimize bone health, Inuit children are shifting from a nutrient dense diet to an energy dense diet, characterized by low quality MF consumption (12,14). Further, infre- quent use of dietary supplements (14) and polar latitude Int J Circumpolar Health 2012. # 2012 Jessy El Hayek et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 1 Citation: Int J Circumpolar Health 2012, 71: 18999 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18999 (page number not for citation purpose)