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Background: Fat mass is variably associated with bone mass, possibly due to differential mechanical and biological effects of fat mass. We examined the association of fat mass with bone mass in a lean population. Objective: To investigate association between hip bone mineral density and fat and lean mass in a cross-sectional study from southern India. Design: The Andhra Pradesh Children and Parents Study is a prospective cohort study in Hyderabad, India. In 2009–2012, the study collected data on anthropometric measures, bone mineral density (BMD), fat mass, and lean mass measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and socioeconomic data of the adult participants (n = 1760; mean age = 34.9 years old for women; 2130 and 32.3 for men). Results: The median BMI (kg/m2) was 20.1 kg/m2. Women had relatively higher fat mass as compared to men. In models adjusted for lean mass, there was an association between hip bone mineral density and fat mass in women (β (95% confidence interval): premenopausal 0.025 (0.006 to 0.045); postmenopausal 0.045 (0.014 to 0.076)) but not in men (0.001 (-0.012 to 0.0014)). The association between hip BMD and fat mass was stronger in postmenopausal than premenopausal women. Hip BMD was consistently associated with lean mass, in both men and women. Conclusions: In this relatively lean population, lean mass was more consistently associated with hip BMD than fat mass. Weight gain through lean mass improvement may be a more reliable public health strategy for strengthening bone health in transitional settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is limited availability of context-specific physical activity questionnaires in low and middle income countries. The aim of this study was to develop and examine the validity of a new Indian physical activity questionnaire, the Andhra Pradesh Children and Parent Study Physical Activity Questionnaire (APCAPS-PAQ).Methods: The current study was conducted with the cohort from the Hyderabad DXA Study (n = 2321), recruited in 2009-2010. Criterion validity (n = 245) was examined by comparing the APCAPS-PAQ to a combined heart rate and motion sensor worn for 8 days. Construct validity (n = 2321) was assessed with linear regression, comparing APCAPS-PAQ against BMI, percent body fat, and pulse rate.Results: The APCAPS-PAQ criterion validity was variable depending on the PA intensity groups (ρ = 0.26, 0.07, 0.39; к = 0.14, 0.04, 0.16 for sedentary, light, moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA) respectively). Sedentary and light intensity activities from the questionnaire were underestimated when compared to the criterion data while MVPA in APCAPS-PAQ was overestimated. Higher time spent in sedentary activity in APCAPS-PAQ was associated with higher BMI and percent body fat, suggesting construct validity.Conclusions: The APCAPS-PAQ validity is comparable to other physical activity questionnaires. This tool is able to assess sedentary behavior, moderate/vigorous activity and physical activity energy expenditure on a group level with reasonable validity. This new questionnaire may be used for ranking individuals according to their sedentary time and physical activity in southern India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence of an association between serum vitamin D and cardiovascular disease risk is inconsistent and comes predominantly from studies in high-income settings. We assessed the association between serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D) and cardiovascular disease risk factors in a population of young Indian adults. Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of data from APCAPS (Andhra Pradesh Children and Parents Study); a prospective birth cohort study in rural south India. Participants were 1038 (40.3% females) adults aged 18-24 years. Main outcome measures were blood pressures, fasting serum lipids (cholesterols and triglycerides), fasting glucose, insulin, measures of arterial stiffness (aortic augmentation index and aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV)), carotid intima-media thickness, body mass index (BMI) and body fat (dual X-ray absorptiometry). Results: Vitamin D deficiency (≤20ng/ml) was observed in 41.1% of this lean (mean BMI: 19.5) and active (mean minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per day: 186) population. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with higher median body fat in both males (15.9% body fat in vitamin D deficient males vs. 14.6% in non-deficient males, p<0.05) and females (29.1% body fat in vitamin D deficient females vs. 27.8% in non-deficient females, p<0.05) but no associations were observed between vitamin D deficiency and mean BMI or median fat mass index (FMI). Except a weak inverse association with fasting insulin in males, there was no clear association between serum vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease risk factors in fully adjusted models. Conclusions: We did not find clear evidence for an association between serum vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Our results, consistent with the limited evidence from randomised trials of vitamin D supplementation and Mendelian randomisation experiments, suggest that the postulated link between serum vitamin D and cardiovascular disease may be non-causal. Instead, it may be attributable to confounding by lifestyle factors such as obesity and physical inactivity which may provide more fruitful targets for cardiovascular disease prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Andhra Pradesh Children and Parents Study (APCAPS) was originally established to study the long-term effects of early-life undernutrition on risk of cardiovascular disease. Its aims were subsequently expanded to include trans-generational influences of other environmental and genetic factors on chronic diseases in rural India. It builds on the Hyderabad Nutrition Trial (HNT) conducted in 1987–90 to compare the effects on birthweight of a protein-calorie supplement for pregnant women and children. The index children of HNT and their mothers were retraced and examined in 2003–05, and the children re-examined as young adults aged 18–21 years in 2009–10. The cohort was expanded to include both parents and siblings of the index children in a recently completed follow-up conducted in 2010–12 (N = ∼6225 out of 10 213 participants). Recruitment of the remaining residents of these 29 villages (N = ∼55 000) in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh is now under way. Extensive data on socio-demographic, lifestyle, medical, anthropometric, physiological, vascular and body composition measures, DNA, stored plasma, and assays of lipids and inflammatory markers on APCAPS participants are available. Details of how to access these data are available from the corresponding author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]