Every kid is given a piggy bank to store loose coins and dollar bills for later use. Wouldn't it be wonderful if kids treated their bones in the same way, depositing all the ingredients for strong bones, to equip them with a rich supply of bone mass later in life?
Just as financial experts encourage you to set up a college fund for your kids when they are babies, health professionals are emphasizing the importance of considering bone health early and often, especially for young girls.
"People can do a lot themselves to improve their bone health, so that they'll reduce their risk of having bone problems later in life," said Steven Petak, MD, JD, FACE, vice president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. "People can actually do something about this."
Osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to deteriorate, currently affects over 10 million Americans. And approximately 34 million additional people have low bone mass, making osteoporosis quite likely. Eighty percent of osteoporosis patients are women, making prevention all the more important in young girls. Women have thinner bones than men and their bones can deteriorate quickly after menopause when levels of estrogen, a hormone that protects the bones, drop off. In men and women, osteoporosis-plagued bones can get so weak they can fracture without any major fall or injury.
The good news is that osteoporosis is largely preventable. The goal is to build up as much bone strength as possible by the time your body stops actively making bone. This occurs when you reach peak bone mass at approximately 20 years of age. Up until this time, bones are actively being built and strengthened during the natural process of remodeling. Specialized bone cells called osteoclasts break down and remove old bone tissue. Then, new bone is formed by osteoblasts.
Once peak bone mass is achieved, however, nothing more can be done to build bone mass. All you can do is maintain your bone mass as your body begins to break down bone mass faster than new bone can be built. But if someone consumes enough calcium and vitamin D and does weight-bearing exercises during childhood and adolescence, she can build her bone mass high enough to reach the maximum peak bone mass possible and prevent going bankrupt in the bone department later in life.
Mineral Deposits
Milk does a body good, but only if it's actually put into the body. A glass of milk contains 300 milligrams of calcium, almost one-fourth of the recommended daily intake of 1,300 milligrams for a child between the ages of 9 and 18. However, getting kids to drink their milk isn't always easy.
"Calcium deficiency is very, very common in the United States, and throughout the world, in fact," Dr. Petak said. "Sufficient calcium intake is important at every age, from infancy through the oldest Americans."
While milk used to be a beverage consumed at the dinner table and with snacks, soft drinks have become the beverage of choice for many kids. While soft drinks should be limited for many health reasons, if your child just hates milk, there are plenty of other sources of calcium that may be more kid-friendly. Yogurt stands out as another calcium champion, containing 450 milligrams of calcium per 1-cup serving. And even ice cream and cheese will help kids stock up on all the calcium they need in a day.
But what if your child is lactose intolerant? Not to worry. A glass of calcium-fortified orange juice is just as good as drinking a glass of milk. Beans, almonds, leafy green vegetables and even white bread are non-dairy sources of calcium. And, if the calcium requirements just cannot be met through food, supplements can be used, as long as they are given in an age-appropriate form. The calcium content of children's vitamins varies so read the labels to see what proportion of the daily requirement they meet. Be aware, however, that there is a limit to the amount of calcium that can be absorbed at once, so two 500-milligram supplements taken at separate times is more effectively used by the body than one 1,000 milligram pill. Also, these supplements should be taken with food to further aid their absorption.
Adding to the Sun Fund
Kids are spending more and more time indoors playing video games, watching TV and doing homework. However, a major part of their daily nutritional requirement is going to be lacking if they don't spend some time in the sun.
Vitamin D is a hormone which gets turned on partially by UV light from the sun. It is an essential vitamin which helps the body absorb the calcium we ingest. You could drink milk all day and still not reap all of its calcium—providing benefits if you do not have enough vitamin D in your body. Vitamin supplements generally contain vitamin D, but getting outside helps to ensure you that also get more exercise. And while sunscreen is recommended for everyone to prevent skin cancer, it will also block vitamin D from getting turned on. Fifteen minutes of being outside in the sun should be enough-so encourage your kids to get some sun, but make sure they don't burn, either.
Exercise your Options
Besides getting the right minerals and vitamins, weight-bearing exercise is essential to help kids build strong bones. The Institute of Medicine recommends that every child perform 60 minutes of weight-bearing exercise every day.
"Sedentary people who are sitting in front of computer terminals or watching television, do not give their bones a chance to get enough mechanical stimulation for normal growth, and that can compromise bone health," Dr. Petak said.
While any type of exercise will make you stronger, weight-bearing exercise, where the body is working against gravity, is necessary to build strong bones. When a bone is stressed, signals go off, telling the osteocytes, the building cells in the bones, to start making more bone in that area. So, exercise that puts just the right amount of stress on the body will stimulate bone growth. A variety of exercise is the key to overall bone strength. And your child doesn't have to lift weights. Jumping or running will help to build the leg bones, and tennis, for example, can build up the arms. While activities like swimming or bike riding are good for you, they are not weight bearing, so they won't help with bone strength.
Making the Investment
With these three bone-building blocks in place: calcium, vitamin D and weight-bearing exercise, a child can be assured that their bone bank account will carry them into their adult years. While genetics do play a factor in the limits of peak bone mass, most cases of osteoporosis are the result of not actively helping bone strength. And boys, too, should make sure they are on the path to good bone health. While they genetically have a higher peak bone mass than girls, 20 percent of those with osteoporosis are male.
By making the investment early, young people won't need to worry about a painful fracture from osteoporosis as adults. And the earlier you start thinking about your child's bone health, the longer they'll be able to reap the rewards.
©2007 Healthology, Inc.