Too thin girls at risk of osteoporosis in later life
By New research from the Children of the 90s project suggests that teenage girls who are too thin may be at risk of osteoporosis in later life.
It has long been known that the amount of muscle in the body is related to bone growth, but the new study shows that fat mass is also important in building bone, particularly in girls.
The researchers looked at over 4,000 young people aged 15 and found that those with higher levels of fat tended to have larger and thicker bones. This connection was particularly marked in the girls.
Building strong bones in youth is particularly important for women, as they are three times more likely to develop osteoporosis, and they suffer two to three times more hip fractures than men.
Jon Tobias, Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Bristol and leader of the research, said: “There is a good deal of pressure on teenage girls to be thin, but they need to be aware that this could endanger their developing skeleton and put them at increased risk of osteoporosis.
“Many people think that exercise is the key to losing weight and building strong bones at the same time — but this may only be true up to a point. If you do a good deal of low impact exercise, such as walking, you will certainly lose fat but you may not be able to put enough stress on the bones to build them significantly.
“To offset the detrimental effect of fat loss on your bones, it may be important to include high impact exercise as well, such as running or jumping.”
Clearly all the research needs to be put together and publicised, along with the risks of osteoporosis at or after menopause and when taking contraceptive hormonal treatments. It’s a truly terrible disease which can cause decades of suffering in later life, so worth getting this right. Good for Children of the 90s, a worthwhile research project if ever there was one.