ArticleThe American journal of medicine2011
Obesity is not protective against fracture in postmenopausal women: GLOW.
Article in The American journal of medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 282 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
282 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 546 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of body mass index and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Body mass index and subsequent fracture risk: a meta-analysis to update FRAX.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2025Pooled it
- Obesity and risk of fracture in postmenopausal women: a meta-analysis of cohort studies.Annals of medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Executive summary: Italian guidelines for diagnosis, risk stratification, and care continuity of fragility fractures 2021.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Pooled it
- Fracture risk following bariatric surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2022Pooled it
- Modifiable lifestyle factors associated with fragility hip fracture: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of bone and mineral metabolism · 2021Pooled it
- The association between overweight/obesity and vertebral fractures in older adults: a meta-analysis of observational studies.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of the association between body mass index and risk of vertebral fracture.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2018Pooled it
- Abdominal Obesity and Risk of Hip Fracture: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2017Pooled it
- Bone quality response to lifestyle intervention in older adults with obesity (LIMB-Q trial): a randomised controlled trial.The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2025Trial
- The effects of time-restricted eating and weight loss on bone metabolism and health: a 6-month randomized controlled trial.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2023Trial
- Impact of GH administration on skeletal endpoints in adults with overweight/obesity.European journal of endocrinology · 2022Trial
- The Effects of 12-Weeks Whey Protein Supplements on Markers of Bone Turnover in Adults With Abdominal Obesity - AFrontiers in endocrinology · 2022Trial
- Effect of a hypocaloric, nutritionally complete, higher-protein meal plan on bone density and quality in older adults with obesity: a randomized trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2019Trial
- Effects of resveratrol on bone health in type 2 diabetic patients. A double-blind randomized-controlled trial.Nutrition & diabetes · 2018Trial
- Prevalence, risk factors and adverse health outcomes of osteosarcopenia in middle-aged and older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus-a scoping review.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2026Review
- The Obesity-Bone Paradox in Postmenopausal Women: Divergent Associations of BMI with Bone Mineral Density and Trabecular Bone Score in a Real-World DXA Cohort.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Observational
- Obesity-related bone fragility: An emerging clinical paradox.The Indian journal of medical research · 2026Article
222 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
22 authors at 19 institutions in 11 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the prevalence and incidence of clinical fractures in obese, postmenopausal women enrolled in the Global Longitudinal study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW).
methodsThis was a multinational, prospective, observational, population-based study carried out by 723 physician practices at 17 sites in 10 countries. A total of 60,393 women aged ≥ 55 years were included. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires that covered domains that included patient characteristics, fracture history, risk factors for fracture, and anti-osteoporosis medications.
resultsBody mass index (BMI) and fracture history were available at baseline and at 1 and 2 years in 44,534 women, 23.4% of whom were obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)). Fracture prevalence in obese women at baseline was 222 per 1000 and incidence at 2 years was 61.7 per 1000, similar to rates in nonobese women (227 and 66.0 per 1000, respectively). Fractures in obese women accounted for 23% and 22% of all previous and incident fractures, respectively. The risk of incident ankle and upper leg fractures was significantly higher in obese than in nonobese women, while the risk of wrist fracture was significantly lower. Obese women with fracture were more likely to have experienced early menopause and to report 2 or more falls in the past year. Self-reported asthma, emphysema, and type 1 diabetes were all significantly more common in obese than nonobese women with incident fracture. At 2 years, 27% of obese women with incident fracture were receiving bone protective therapy, compared with 41% of nonobese and 57% of underweight women.
conclusionsOur results demonstrate that obesity is not protective against fracture in postmenopausal women and is associated with increased risk of ankle and upper leg fractures.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.