A new study has found that 81% of Taiwanese people have an unhealthily low bone density. The study was conducted by Professor Wu Chung-I of National Taiwan Normal University’s School of Life Sciences.
Wu’s team used a device that measures bone density through ultrasonic waves to assess the bone density of 2,820 Taiwanese people over the course of nearly three years. The measurements were taken at several dozen locations, allowing Wu to compare bone density levels in different areas of Taiwan.
The number of people with excessively low bone density was particularly high among people over 70. In this group, the incidence of excessively low bone density rose to 93%. Women were more likely to have excessively low bone density, with an incidence of 84% versus 74% in men.
There was also a noticeable regional disparity: 74% of those measured in southern Taiwan had excessively low bone density, but that figure rose to 82% in Taiwan’s central and northern regions.