Children run around outside, play sports and break bones, it’s a fact of life. And while it is impossible to prevent all of them, there are ways to focus on strong bone health and reduce the risks of fractures.
“About one in three children will have a fracture in their lifetime, and they are more common in boys than girls,” said Angielyn San Juan, DO, pediatric orthopaedic specialist at Endeavor Health. “However, when we look at kids who have multiple fractures, close to 75% of them have abnormal bone health with deficient levels of calcium and vitamin D.”
“You can’t change that kids are kids and they play outside and sometimes have hard falls and breaks, but you can impact bone health,” said Dr. San Juan.
Focusing on bone health in our growing years is critical and has a lasting impact on health as people reach peak bone mineral density by the age of 20-25. “I think if more people knew that or thought about the longer impact a child’s bone health may have in terms of helping to prevent future osteoporosis, they would pay more attention to their children’s diets,” she said.
There are three main components to bone health — nutrition, physical activity and luck related to genetic/natural composition, the last of which you obviously can’t change, she added.
- Nutrition. Calcium in conjunction with vitamin D contributes to bone density/bone health, creating a stronger scaffolding for bones. Foods like milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, leafy greens and nuts all contain calcium, and most people should shoot for an intake of about 1200 milligrams a day.
If you, or your child doesn’t get the recommended amount of calcium through their diet, consider taking supplements to make up the difference, advised Dr. San Juan. Keep in mind, drinking a lot of soda can reduce calcium absorption.
Additionally, most Midwesterners need to consider a vitamin D supplement as well, as many children and adults in the region are vitamin D deficient.
- Exercise. Physical activity, specifically weight bearing activity like running and jumping is the other critical component to building strong bones. “Moderate to vigorous exercise is good for all of us,” emphasized Dr. San Juan. She has encountered parents who are worried about a child’s fracture and want to limit their activity, but that’s not the answer either for long-term health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least 60 minutes a day of exercise for children. For kids who aren’t naturally athletic or don’t play sports, Dr. San Juan urges parents to be a role model and build in regular daily activity with their children. Anything from a walk in the park to raking leaves or spending 10-15 minutes a day doing things like jumping jacks or other simple exercises is a great way to get more weight-bearing, bone-strengthening activity.
- Be proactive. When a child has multiple fractures in a calendar year it’s probably time to look at their bone conditions — it could be a rare inherited condition or really poor vitamin D levels, either of which can be helped with significant Vitamin D supplementation. Vitamin D levels can be checked with a routine blood test.
“Owning the bone” is a new pediatric orthopaedic initiative where we ask parents about their children’s activities and vitamin D levels and try and be more proactive on the front end to raise vitamin D levels and prevent some fractures, said Dr. San Juan.
Fortunately, when kids do take that fall or have an accident that results in a fracture, the good news is that they heal more quickly than adults.
“Children are resilient, and they have better outcomes with breaks than older adults and are typically good as new once the bone heals,” said Dr. San Juan.
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