Table 1 Characteristics of postmenopausal women according to time since menopause and bone mass status

Age (years)

52.2 ± 4.2^a

52.1 ± 3.3^a

55.9 ± 4.4^b

58.9 ± 3.8^c

<0.001

0.096

0.076

Years at school (years)

9.5 ± 3.4

8.3 ± 4.5

6.2 ± 3.3

8.5 ± 4.7

0.120

0.535

0.079

White, n (%)^d

19 (90)

24 (86)

8 (80)

35 (87)

0.688

Weight (kg)

77.9 ± 15.2^b

62.7 ± 8.6^a

69.5 ± 9.4^b

65.5 ± 11.0^ba

0.282

<0.001

0.033

BMI (kg/m²)

30.6 ± 5.8^b

25.6 ± 2.9^a

27.4 ± 3.5^b

26.3 ± 4.3^ba

0.189

0.002

0.050

Waist circumference (cm)

95.4 ± 14.8^b

82.5 ± 7.9^a

87.6 ± 8.9^b

84.4 ± 10.7^ba

0.239

0.002

0.054

Body fat %

44.2 ± 5.6^b

39.5 ± 6.2^a

41.3 ± 4.8^b

38.9 ± 6.2^ba

0.262

0.025

0.453

Lean mass (kg)

41.3 ± 5.9^b

35.6 ± 4.2^a

38.7 ± 5.3^b

37.7 ± 3.8^ba

0.797

0.002

0.027

Fat mass (kg)

33.7 ± 10.3^b

25.2 ± 9.6^a

27.5 ± 6.2^b

25.0 ± 8.7^ba

0.131

0.010

0.159

RMR (Kcal/day)

1358.4 ± 285.8^b

1191.8 ± 134.8^a

1302.0 ± 189.8^b

1242.5 ± 165.3^ba

0.949

0.012

0.227

Mean steps/day

3681.6 ± 208.8

3718.9 ± 262.3

3659.1 ± 225.7

3731.0 ± 243.8

0.925

0.323

0.754

Sedentary, n (%)^d

14 (67)

16 (57)

7 (70)

21 (52)

0.564

Lumbar spine BMD (g/cm²)

1.20 ± 0.08^c

1.00 ± 0.08^b

1.19 ± 0.09^c

0.94 ± 0.13^a

0.139

<0.001

0.352

Femoral neck BMD (g/cm²)

1.01 ± 0.08^c

0.88 ± 0.08^b

0.98 ± 0.07^c

0.80 ± 0.09^a

0.027

<0.001

0.344

Total femoral BMD (g/cm²)

1.07 ± 0.09^c

0.92 ± 0.09^b

1.02 ± 0.08^c

0.86 ± 0.10^a

0.015

<0.001

0.744

Estradiol (pg/mL)

27.6 ± 15.7

22.2 ± 12.6

20.9 ± 10.4

20.1 ± 11.9

0.178

0.191

0.583

Free estradiol index (pg/mL)

0.4 ± 0.2

0.3 ± 0.2

0.3 ± 0.1

0.3 ± 0.2

0.178

0.191

0.583