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Too little sunshine, milk and exercise hurts kids' bones
The Trail Daily Times (Wed 28 Nov 2007 Source: Associated Press) reports that too little milk, sunshine and exercise can lead to rickets, the soft-bone scourge of the 19th century. But cases of full-blown rickets are just the red flag. Bone specialists say possibly millions of seemingly healthy children aren't building as much strong bone as they should -- a gap that may leave them more vulnerable to bone-cracking osteoporosis later in life than their grandparents are. Now scientists are taking the first steps to track kids' bone quality and learn just how big a problem the anti-bone trio is causing, thanks to new research that finally shows just what "normal" bone density is for children of different ages. Dr. Heidi Kalkwarf of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital led a national study that gave bone scans to 1,500 healthy children ages six to 17 to see how bone mass is accumulated. The result, published last summer: the first bone-growth guide, just like height-and-weight charts, for pediatricians treating children at high risk of bone problems. Next, the government-funded study is tracking those 1,500 children for seven more years, to see how their bones turn out. Say a seven-year-old is in the 50th percentile for bone growth. Does she tend to stay at that level by age 14, or catch up to kids with denser bones? If not, if she more prone to fractures? Ultimately, the question is what level is cause for concern. But almost half of peak bone mass develops during adolescence, and the concern is that missing out on the strongest possible bones in childhood could haunt people decades later. By the 30s, bone is broken down faster than it's rebuilt. Then it's a race to maintain bone and avoid the thin bones of osteoporosis in old age.
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