Typically, when parents think about their children's health, they don't think
about their bones. But building healthy bones by adopting healthy nutritional
and lifestyle habits in childhood is important to help prevent osteoporosis and
fractures later in life.
Osteoporosis, the disease that causes bones to become less dense and more
prone to fractures, has been called "a pediatric disease with geriatric
consequences," because the bone mass attained in childhood and adolescence is an
important determinant of lifelong skeletal health. The health habits your kids
are forming now can make, or literally break, their bones as they age.
Why Is Childhood Such an Important Time for Bone Development?
Bones are the framework for your child's growing body. Bone is living tissue
that changes constantly, with bits of old bone being removed and replaced by new
bone. You can think of bone as a bank account, where (with your help) your kids
make "deposits" and "withdrawals" of bone tissue. During childhood and
adolescence, much more bone is deposited than withdrawn as the skeleton grows in
both size and density.
For most people, the amount of bone tissue in the skeleton (known as bone
mass) peaks by their late twenties. At that point, bones have reached their
maximum strength and density. Up to 90 percent of peak bone mass is acquired by
age 18 in girls and age 20 in boys, which makes youth the best time for your
kids to "invest" in their bone health.
Building your children's "bone bank" account is a lot like saving for their
education: The more they can put away when they're young, the longer it should
last as they get older.
What Is Osteoporosis? Isn't It Something Old People Get?
Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become fragile and break easily.
When someone has osteoporosis, it means his/her "bank account" of bone tissue
has dropped to a low level. If there is significant bone loss, even sneezing or
bending over to tie a shoe can cause a bone in the spine to break. Hips, ribs,
and wrist bones also break easily. The fractures from osteoporosis can be
painful and disfiguring. There is no cure for the disease.
Osteoporosis is most common in older people but can also occur in young and
middle-aged adults. Optimizing peak bone mass and developing lifelong healthy
bone behaviors during youth are important ways to help prevent or minimize
osteoporosis risk as an adult.
Factors Affecting Peak Bone Mass
Peak bone mass is influenced by a variety of factors: some that you can't change, like gender and race, and some that you can, like nutrition and physical activity.
Gender: Bone mass or density is generally higher in men than in women. Before puberty, boys and girls develop bone mass at similar rates. After puberty, however, boys tend to acquire greater bone mass than girls.
Race: For reasons still not well understood, African American girls tend to achieve higher peak bone mass than Caucasian girls, and African American women are at lower risk for osteoporosis later in life. More research is needed to understand the differences in bone density between the various racial and ethnic groups. However, because all women, regardless of race, are at significant risk for osteoporosis, girls of all races need to build as much bone as possible to protect them against this disease.
Hormonal factors: Sex hormones, including estrogen and testosterone, are essential for the development of bone mass. Girls who start to menstruate at an early age typically have greater bone density. Those who frequently miss their menstrual periods sometimes have lower bone density.
Nutritional status: Calcium is an essential nutrient for bone health. In fact, calcium deficiencies in young people can account for a 5- to 10-percent lower peak bone mass and may increase the risk for bone fracture in later life. A well-balanced diet including adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D is also important for bone health.
Physical activity: Physical activity is important for building healthy bones, and provides benefits that are most pronounced in the areas of the skeleton that bear the most weight. These areas include the hips during walking and running and the arms during gymnastics and weight lifting.
In lactose intolerance, the digestive system cannot digest lactose (the main sugar in milk). Symptoms of lactose intolerance include diarrhea, flatulence, abdominal pain, abdominal bloating, abdominal distention, and nausea. There are several tests to diagnose lactose intolerance. Treatment is generally made with dietary changes, supplements, and adaptation to small amounts of milk.
Alcoholism is a disease that includes alcohol craving and continued drinking despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law.
Learn about osteoporosis, a condition characterized by the loss of bone density, which leads to an increased risk of bone fracture. Unless one experiences a fracture, a person may have osteoporosis for decades without knowing it. Treatment for osteoporosis may involve medications that stop bone loss and increase bone strength and bone formation, as well as quitting smoking, regular exercise, cutting back on alcohol intake, and eating a calcium- and vitamin D-rich balanced diet.
Fractures occur when bone cannot withstand the outside forces applied to the bone. Fractures can be open or closed. Types of fractures include: greenstick, spiral, comminuted, transverse, compound, or vertebral compression. Common fractures include: stress fracture, compression fracture, rib fracture, and skull fracture. Treatment depends upon the type of fracture.
Smoking is an addiction. More than 430,000 deaths occur each year in the U.S. from smoking related illnesses. Secondhand smoke or "passive smoke" also harm family members, coworkers, and others around smokers. There are a number of techniques available to assist people who want to quit smoking.
Alcohol is the most frequently used drug by American teenagers. Teens that drink are more likely to drive under the influence, have unprotected sex, and use other drugs, like marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. Symptoms of alcohol abuse in teens include lying, breaking curfew, becoming verbally or physically abusive toward others, making excuses, smelling like alcohol, having mood swings, and stealing.
Vitamins are organic substances that are essential for the proper growth and functioning of the body. Calcium is a mineral essential for healthy bones and is also important for muscle contraction, heart action, and normal blood clotting.
Good parenting helps foster empathy, honesty, self-reliance, self-control, kindness, cooperation, and cheerfulness, says Steinberg, a distinguished professor of psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia. It also promotes intellectual curiosity, motivation, and desire to achieve. It helps protect children from developing anxiety, depression, eating disorders, antisocial behavior, and alcohol and drug abuse.
Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of disease. Regular exercise can also reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety. There are fitness programs that fit any age or lifestyle.
Children's health is focused on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence. There are many aspects of children's health, including growth and development, illnesses, injuries, behavior, mental illness, family health and community health.
Teenagers recognize that they are developmentally between child and adult. Teen health prevention includes maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly, preventing injuries and screening annually for potential health conditions that could adversely affect teenage health.
Vitamins and exercise can lower your risk for heart attack and heart disease. Folic acid, vitamins, and homocysteine levels are interconnected and affect your risk for heart disease or heart attack. Antioxidants and exercise also play a key role in heart attack and heart disease prevention. Lower your risk factors for heart disease and heart attack by lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, diabetes prevention, and smoking cesssation.
Homocysteine is metabolized (chemically transformed) into methionine and
cysteine with the help of the B vitamins; folic acid, B12, and B6 (pyridoxine).
Therefore, insufficient amounts of these B vitamins in the body can
theoretically hamper the metabolic breakdown of homocysteine, and hence increase
its blood levels. High levels of homocysteine in the blood
(hyperhomocysteinemia) can damage the inner surface of blood vessels, promote
blood clotting, and accelerate atherosclerosis.
The current state of knowledge regarding folic acid, homocysteine, and
heart
attacks is as follows:
The level of blood folate is an important determinant
of the blood homocysteine level. Low blood folate levels are associated with
high blood levels of homocysteine.
Low blood folate is common among individuals who do
not take multivitamins, but unusual among those who do.
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