Bone Health

No matter what your age, strong bones is extremely essential for leading a healthy life. Strong bones help prevent osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become fragile and break easily. Often considered an "elderly" concern, osteoporosis prevention begins at an early age and continues throughout your lifetime.

Bone mass develops rapidly between the ages of 10 and 20 and peaks at age 30.

Building and maintaining strong bones depends on calcium, vitamin D, and physical activity.

Three key factors

Calcium

Calcium is an important nutrient for your body and for your health. Calcium helps your heart, muscles, and nerves function. It is also important for bone health. Ninety-nine percent of your body's calcium is stored in your bones. Children and teenagers need adequate calcium in their diets so they can maximize the calcium storage in their bones. In later years, adequate dietary calcium helps minimize calcium loss from the bones.

Vitamin D

Your body uses vitamin D to help transport calcium to your bones. Foods such as milk, buttermilk, curds, paneer (cottage cheese) and eggs contain vitamin D. Your body also makes its own vitamin D when you are exposed to sunlight. Exposure to sunlight, three times a week, for 30 minutes, is the minimum sunlight required for younger people. However, many older people, who are not enough in the sun, need to take supplements to obtain their needed 400 to 600 IU of vitamin D per day.

Milk and nuts contains calcium as well as Vitamin D, which are essential for bone health.

Physical Activity

Exercise keeps bones strong. It helps calcium deposition in the bones. It prevents calcium loss from bones. Weight-bearing exercise helps keep bones strong and prevents calcium loss. Calcium loss can take place at any age, even during childhood. For example, astronauts (weightlessness in space) and sedentary people are at greater risk for losing calcium from their bones.

Weight-bearing exercise includes walking, carrying groceries, carrying water, climbing stairs, dancing, skipping, hop-scotch, kho-kho, kasrat, playing other outdoor sports like gullidanda, volleyball, badminton, jogging, weight lifting, etc.

Exercise keeps bones strong. It helps calcium deposition in the bones. It prevents calcium loss from bones. Weight-bearing exercise helps keep bones strong and prevents calcium loss. Calcium loss can take place at any age, even during childhood. For example, astronauts (weightlessness in space) and sedentary people are at greater risk for losing calcium from their bones. Weight-bearing exercise includes walking, carrying groceries, carrying water, climbing stairs, dancing, skipping, hop-scotch, kho-kho, kasrat, playing other outdoor sports like gullidanda, volleyball, badminton, jogging, weight lifting, etc. Aim for at least 30 minutes of activity on most days of the week. You can add up the minutes throughout the day. It does not need to be all at one time.

Your bone health depends on Calcium and Physical activity and Vitamin D For Strong bones you need calcium, vitamin D and weight-bearing physical activity. If your diet contains calcium and Vitamin D rich foods, but, you are not exercising enough then calcium will not get deposited in the bones. Similarly, if you are exercising but not eating enough calcium rich foods, then again, calcium will not get deposited in the bones.