A randomized controlled study of effects of dietary magnesium oxide supplementation on bone mineral content in healthy girls.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trial.
PubMed 17018656 · doi:10.1210/jc.2006-1391
What was done
A prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 12-month trial evaluating dietary magnesium oxide supplementation in healthy 8- to 14-year-old Caucasian girls. From over 120 screened volunteers, girls with dietary magnesium intake below 220 mg/day were enrolled to receive either 300 mg elemental magnesium daily (in two divided doses) or placebo for 1 year. The primary outcome was interval change in bone mineral content (BMC) at the total hip, femoral neck, Ward's area, and lumbar spine (L1-L4).
What was found
Integrated hip BMC accrual was significantly greater in the magnesium-supplemented group compared to placebo (P = 0.05). Lumbar spinal BMC accrual was slightly but not significantly greater in the magnesium group. Compliance was 73% based on pill counts. Calciotropic hormones, serum minerals, and bone markers were similar between groups. Specific numeric BMC values and group sample sizes were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
This study provides randomized interventional evidence that magnesium supplementation can improve hip bone mineral accrual in periadolescent girls with low dietary magnesium intake.
Limits
The total number of randomized participants is not stated in the abstract (noted only as a small cohort). Absolute numerical effect sizes and confidence intervals are omitted. The hip BMC finding was of borderline statistical significance (P = 0.05), and lumbar spine changes were not statistically significant. The population was limited to Caucasian girls.
Cited by
- supports A one-year supplementation study found that magnesium supplementation enhanced bone mass in the hips of peripubertal girls.