Childhood activity may Prevent Osteoporosis as an Adult

Childhood activity may Prevent Osteoporosis as an Adult

Regardless of age physical activity and exercise is commonly accepted as an excellent method for both preventing and reversing obesity.  The American College of Sports Medicine, the organization through which I am certified as a personal trainer, has declared the month of September to be childhood obesity awareness month.  The purpose behind this is to help the general public understand that increased levels of physical activity in children can lead to a lifelong benefit of increased health.  In support of this, this post contains information about another preventable health problem, osteoporosis, which is being shown by recent research to be largely preventable during the childhood years.  The evidence is strong enough that researchers believe as many as 60% of current adult osteoporosis cases could have been prevented by increased physical activity as a child.

The years between the ages of five and about fifteen appear to be the most influential for a child to develop strong bones that will serve the child throughout the adult years and into old age.  The strengthening of the bones is proposed to happen in primarily two ways.  The first is that there is an increase in bone mineral accrual.  Various minerals are present throughout the bones of the human body.  Simply put, the more minerals that are made into the bones as they grow the stronger the various tissues within the bone become as they knit together to form the solid structure of the bone.  This helps to improve the overall mass of the bone, which is the second indicator of the health of the bone structure.  The more mass (weight) a bone has in relation to its length the denser the bone becomes.  This increase in density means that throughout the life of the person the bone will be less susceptible to osteoporosis developing and weakening the bones.  Bones weakened by osteoporosis are more likely to fracture than bones without it. 

So what physical activity, as a child, is best for improving bone growth?  Several different studies have looked into this question.  The answer seems to be any form of exercise that increased mechanical load on the bone.  In the context of exercise mechanical load is often weight-training.  But, that is not necessarily appropriate for children, especially before the onset of puberty.  In prepuberty aged children, the child’s own body weight is sufficient resistance with typical childhood activity.  Anything that involves walking or running is adequate.  However, jumping appears to be the best form of physical activity for children to improve the quality of bone structure.  One study in particular, found that by having children stand on platforms, varying from 12 inches to 24 inches in height, and the jumping off the platforms to the ground, the children improved bone mass and mineral quality by almost 7% more than a control group that did not perform the jumps but participated in the same running activities as the research group.

Maintaining physical activity over the entire lifetime is important for maintaining healthy bones and preventing osteoporosis.  Just like muscular strength, healthy strong bones follow the “use it or lose it” principle.  Physical inactivity does more than increased the possibility of gaining body fat.  It may make a person more prone to osteoporosis.