Is lack of calcium contributing to more arm fractures in children?
(HealthDay News) The statistics identify it, but they don’t explain it: kids are suffering from wrist and forearm breaks much more often than they did 30 years ago. And experts are still investigating why this is happening, although a lot of evidence is pointing to a reduction in calcium intake. And calcium is a key element in building bone density and strength. This phenomenon raises the specter of these same kids possibly developing osteoporosis later on in life. “Adolescence is critical for bone mass acquisition. It is estimated that a quarter of bone mass in adult women and men is accumulated during the adolescent growth spurt,” says Dr. Sundeep Khosla, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, who has studied the problem for the U.S. National Institute on Aging. “The fact that we’ve seen this fairly significant increase in forearm fractures in the past 30 years raises the concern that these kids aren’t acquiring the optimal peak bone mass that they should,” Khosla says. The number of distal
(HealthDay News) The statistics identify it, but they don’t explain it: kids are suffering from wrist and forearm breaks much more often than they did 30 years ago. And experts are still investigating why this is happening, although a lot of evidence is pointing to a reduction in calcium intake. And calcium is a key element in building bone density and strength. This phenomenon raises the specter of these same kids possibly developing osteoporosis later on in life. “Adolescence is critical for bone mass acquisition. It is estimated that a quarter of bone mass in adult women and men is accumulated during the adolescent growth spurt,” says Dr. Sundeep Khosla, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, who has studied the problem for the U.S. National Institute on Aging. “The fact that we’ve seen this fairly significant increase in forearm fractures in the past 30 years raises the concern that these kids aren’t acquiring the optimal peak bone mass that they should,” Khosla says. The number of distal
