Osteoporosis – Why Young Women are at Risk

Your overall health habits, especially in your teen years, can affect your bones for the rest of your life. That’s because women develop 40 percent of their bone mass between the ages of 14 and 17. You keep adding bone mass until you’re about 30, but not the amounts you get in those early years.

What can you do in your 20s, 30s and 40s, when your main bone-building years are behind you? Take the following eight steps to protect your bones now…

1. Pay attention to your period
If you miss your period for at least three consecutive months, see your doctor immediately. This may mean you’re low on oestrogen, a bone-protecting hormone. Oestrogen deficiency causes a rise in the production of cells that remove bone from the body. You may be prescribed birth control pills to regulate your levels

2. Limit caffeine
It may affect calcium absorption. Stick to two or three cups of coffee or tea a day. For every 227- ml caffeinated drink consumed, your body fails to absorb 4 mg of calcium. So, include an extra 40 mg of calcium in your diet: put skim milk in your coffee or add a cup of spinach to a salad.

3. Do bone-building exercises
Vertical jumping – literally jumping up and landing on flat feet – is an excellent impact exercise for bone strengthening and building. Studies show that women who jumped vertically 300 times a week increased bone mass in their hips by 2.8 per cent. Jumping shocks the bone, causing bone mass to build. Jumping rope isn’t as effective because you don’t land as hard. To avoid injury, build knee strength by doing squats and leg extensions. And practise first to perfect your form. Make sure your knees are in line with your toes when you land, and don’t turn your knees inward. Also try weight-lifting, jogging and step aerobics.

4. Limit vitamin A
According to a recent study, women who consumed high amounts of vitamin A in the form of retinol (2,000 micrograms) had the greatest incidence of bone loss-related hip fractrues. At high levels, vitamin A may cause bones to break down faster then they rebuild. Read food and supplement labels for vitamin A amounts to ensure you are not getting too much. And choose a multivitamin that specifies that at least 20 per cent of its vitamin A comes from beta-carotene, which doesn’t harm bones the way retinol can. Fortified foods such as energy bars and cereal also contain vitamin A in retinol form, so be aware of how many you eat every day.

5. Eat the right amount of protein
A diet that contains more or less protein than required is associated with a decrease in bone density. You need roughly 50 g of protein daily. Good sources include lean red meat, skinless chicken, low-fat cheese, tofu and skim milk. Meanwhile, extremely protein-dense diets may decrease calcium absorption or increase calcium loss, says the National Osteoporosis Foundation in the US.

6. Get enough calcium.
You need at least 1,200 mg daily, but many women get less than  half of this. sources include low-fat yoghurt (448 mg per cup) and skim milk (352 mg per cup).

7. Cut down salt intake
Like caffeine, excess sodium also causes calcium loss. (the maximum recommended daily intake is 2,400 mg). Your body eliminates salt through the kidneys and takes calcium along with it. Read labels, and be especially wary of packaged foods such as canned soups, frozen dinners, prepared mixes and snack foods such as pretzels and popcorn, which tend to be loaded with sodium. One cup of ready-to-serve soup contains 870 mg, more than a third of the recommended daily intake.

8. Aim for five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily. A recent study found that women who consumed 5.3 servings daily had greater bone density than those who didn’t. The magnesium and potassium in fruit and vegetables protect bones.

Should you get a BMD test?
One way to measure bone mass is an X-ray technique called dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). It can measure bone density in the spine, hip,wrist or entire body. Currently, Bone Mass Density (BMD) testing isn’t routinely performed on women until they’re 65, but experts suggest you get tested now if you frequently take oral glucocorticusteroids for conditions like asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus and /or rheumatoid arthritis. You may also consider testing if you’ve had irregular periods or have suffered an exercise or eating disorder.