Bone Density: What Women of All Ages Should Know
By Paula Jewett, MD
Osteoporosis—or thinning of bones—isn’t just your grandmother’s disease. Women of all ages need to take better care of their bones. You’re never too old or too young to improve bone health. With proper nutrition, daily physical activity and regular medical check-ups and screenings, we can all have strong bones and live longer, safer lives. Since May is Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month, it’s a fitting time to renew our commitment to doing all we can to ensure healthy bones.
Osteoporosis has been described as a geriatric disease with an adolescent onset, highlighting the importance of taking steps—in exercise and diet—early in life to reduce its disabling impact in later years. It’s true that bone breakdown accelerates with the decline of the female hormone estrogen at menopause. For several years, women lose bone two to four times faster than they did before menopause. The rate of loss usually slows down again, but some women may continue to lose bone rapidly. By age 65, some women have lost half their skeletal mass.
What many don’t know, however, is that at around the age of 30, women stop producing new bone. It’s important for these women to take steps to strengthen existing bone and to forestall its loss so they have optimal bone mass by the onset of menopause.
Mothers, too, should pay attention to bone health in their youngsters. Premature and low-birth-weight infants often need extra calcium, phosphorous and protein to help them catch up on nutrients needed for strong bones. According to the Surgeon General, breastfed babies get the calcium and nutrients they need for good bone health from their mothers. That’s why breastfeeding moms need extra vitamin D. Most baby formula contains calcium and vitamin D.
Parents can help their children develop bone mass by encouraging exercise and proper nutrition, especially during puberty, when kids gain 25 to 30 percent of their bone mass. Boys and girls from ages 9 to 18 need more calcium than any other age group. Parents can help teens by making sure they eat four servings of calcium-rich and vitamin D-fortified foods daily. The Surgeon General recommends that children and teens get at least one hour a day of physical activity.
To illustrate how bone loss works, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a banking analogy: Think of the skeleton like a retirement account for minerals. We can only deposit bone in our skeletal account during our first three decades. After that, withdrawals are greater than deposits, and all we can do is strive to minimize the net loss. Fractures from osteoporosis are the sign of bankruptcy that occurs when too little bone is formed during youth, too much is lost later, or both.
To have healthy, strong bones as a grandmother
requires diligence from an early age. Here’s what you
can do for yourself:
Osteoporosis—or thinning of bones—isn’t just your grandmother’s disease. Women of all ages need to take better care of their bones. You’re never too old or too young to improve bone health. With proper nutrition, daily physical activity and regular medical check-ups and screenings, we can all have strong bones and live longer, safer lives. Since May is Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month, it’s a fitting time to renew our commitment to doing all we can to ensure healthy bones.
Osteoporosis has been described as a geriatric disease with an adolescent onset, highlighting the importance of taking steps—in exercise and diet—early in life to reduce its disabling impact in later years. It’s true that bone breakdown accelerates with the decline of the female hormone estrogen at menopause. For several years, women lose bone two to four times faster than they did before menopause. The rate of loss usually slows down again, but some women may continue to lose bone rapidly. By age 65, some women have lost half their skeletal mass.
What many don’t know, however, is that at around the age of 30, women stop producing new bone. It’s important for these women to take steps to strengthen existing bone and to forestall its loss so they have optimal bone mass by the onset of menopause.
Mothers, too, should pay attention to bone health in their youngsters. Premature and low-birth-weight infants often need extra calcium, phosphorous and protein to help them catch up on nutrients needed for strong bones. According to the Surgeon General, breastfed babies get the calcium and nutrients they need for good bone health from their mothers. That’s why breastfeeding moms need extra vitamin D. Most baby formula contains calcium and vitamin D.
Parents can help their children develop bone mass by encouraging exercise and proper nutrition, especially during puberty, when kids gain 25 to 30 percent of their bone mass. Boys and girls from ages 9 to 18 need more calcium than any other age group. Parents can help teens by making sure they eat four servings of calcium-rich and vitamin D-fortified foods daily. The Surgeon General recommends that children and teens get at least one hour a day of physical activity.
To illustrate how bone loss works, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a banking analogy: Think of the skeleton like a retirement account for minerals. We can only deposit bone in our skeletal account during our first three decades. After that, withdrawals are greater than deposits, and all we can do is strive to minimize the net loss. Fractures from osteoporosis are the sign of bankruptcy that occurs when too little bone is formed during youth, too much is lost later, or both.
To have healthy, strong bones as a grandmother
requires diligence from an early age. Here’s what you
can do for yourself:
- Eat a healthy diet. Get the recommended amounts of calcium and vitamin D daily. Be aware that certain foods are naturally rich in calcium and Vitamin D.
- Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day, doing strength-building and weight-bearing activities. Brisk walking is great! By walking, running or lifting weight, you put stress on your bones, sending a signal to your body that your bones need to be made stronger. New cells are added to strengthen your bones.
- Don’t smoke. Smoking can reduce bone mass.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Being underweight raises the risk of fracture and bone loss.
- Limit alcohol use. Heavy alcohol use reduces bone mass.
- Talk with your physician about bone health. Together you can evaluate your risks.
