The aim of the work is to study the speed of ultrasound propagation in bones to determine the state of osteopenia and osteoporosis in children taking into account age, gender, physical development, and susceptibility to traumatic fractures.

Materials and methods. A total of 142 children aged 1 to 17 years were studied, of which 61 were girls and 81 were boys. Positive answers to questions about unbalanced nutrition, refusal to take vitamin D and repeated traumatic, primarily so-called low-energy fractures in the past were the basis for conducting ultrasound densitometry of bone density in children. To measure the speed of ultrasound waves in the tissues of the radius and tibia, the Mini-Omni device made in Israel was used.

Results. The average ultrasound propagation velocity in the radius and tibia in children depended on age, sex, and body mass index. The Z-scores, which took these relationships into account, were below the reference values (Z-score <-1.0) in almost all age categories except for adolescent girls aged 13–17 years. Boys and young men with Z-scores below -1.0 had twice the frequency of recurrent low-energy bone fractures in the past, compared with other children.

Conclusions. The method of measuring the speed of propagation of ultrasound in the form of the Z-score indicator is a convenient, fast and safe method of screening the state of bone mineral density in children and allows to detect osteopenia of varying degrees in 66.2 % of randomly examined children. In boys and young men aged 8–17 years, a Z-score below -1.0 doubles the risk of low-energy fracture.