Nutritional needs for bone health change as we age, says new scientific review
Whatever our age, nutrition makes a difference to bone health and influences whether we live independent, mobile, fracture-free lives in our more senior years, experts highlight in Osteoporosis International.
Leading bone and nutrition experts have summarised the latest studies, trials and guidelines about the nutritional needs of mothers, children, adolescents, adults and older people, in relation to developing and maintaining a healthy skeleton.
They found that getting enough calcium, vitamin D, protein and other micronutrients can support the primary objectives for good bone health, which are:
• Achieving genetic potential for peak bone mass in children and adolescents;
• Avoiding premature bone loss and maintaining a healthy skeleton in adults;
• Preventing and treating osteoporosis in older people.
The report underlines how lifestyle trends that lead to poor diet and nutrient deficiencies are a growing cause of concern in people of all ages.
In older people, studies have shown that calcium intakes are often far below those recommended in national guidelines. And alarmingly low levels of vitamin D have been found in populations around the world. Lifestyle factors such as excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, and a very high or low body mass index (BMI) increase fracture risk.
The review shows how deficits in protein intake as well as malnutrition, which is sadly common in older people, can negatively affect bone and muscle health. It highlights how together with exercise, adequate nutritional intake in those at high risk of fracture plays an important complementary role to pharmacotherapy.
“The baby boomer generation is ageing and as a result age-related musculoskeletal diseases are imposing an increasingly costly burden on society and health-care systems worldwide,” says Prof Bess Dawson Hughes, co-author. “This report shows how we can tap the potential of healthy nutrition within a systematic life-course approach to support osteoporosis and fracture prevention.”
Click here to access the report.
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