Abstract:[Objective] To investigate the relationship between age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and osteoporosis (OP) in middle-aged and elderly people. [Methods] A total of 958 local residents in Lanzhou city were included in this study. The data regarding to the physical condition of the subjects were obtained, bone mineral density (BMD) was detected, based on which whether or not OP was determined accord- ing to diagnostic criteria. Descriptive analysis was performed on the data of this population, and multi-factor logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the related factors of OP occurrence with binary variable of OP or not as the dependent variable and other factors as the independent variables. [Results] There were 457 males and 501 females in this population, aged from 40 to 89 years old with a mean (61.7± 7.5) years old. OP was detected from 2.7% to 21.5% in the male, while from 11.9% to 61.0% in the female. The BMI of both men and women decreased with age, but the differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The OP detection rates increased significantly with age in both males and females (P>0.001). The males had greater BMI than the female in the all age groups, but the differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). However, the detection rate of OP in males was significantly lower than that in females in all age groups (P<0.001). As results of logistic regression, the females (OR=3.782, 95%CI 2.415~5.85, P<0.001) and advanced age (OR=2.031, 95%CI 1.724~2.831, P< 0.001) were independent risk factor for OP, while greater BMI (OR=0.447, 95%CI 0.361~0.693, P<0.001) was a protective factor for the oc- currence of OP. [Conclusion] The incidence of OP in this population increases remarkably with age, and is significantly higher in females than in males. In addition, greater BMI is a protective factor for the occurrence of OP in this population.