Charnicia E. Huggins, "Adult lifestyle predicts bone health", Reuters,
May 26, 2005,
Link:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=HC40QQN5D4PV0CRBAE0CFEY?ty
pe=healthNews&storyID=8614555

A person's lifestyle as an adult, including their diet and exercise
habits, and reproductive history, plays a more integral role in bone
health than does his or her birth weight or other factors associated
with early life, results of a UK study suggest.

Data collected from hundreds of middle-aged individuals revealed that
their adult lifestyle had more of an impact on their bone mineral
density than did factors related to their early life, such as birth
weight. Early lifestyle factors, on the other hand, appeared to
influence bone size.

Previous research suggested that a person's health during their middle
age years is strongly influenced by their fetal development.
Researchers have associated poor growth during this stage, as well as
in infancy, with less skeletal growth and bone mass and a greater risk
of osteoporosis and bone fracture.

"Previous studies have suggested a link between birth weight and bone
health," study author Dr. Mark S. Pearce of the University of Newcastle
upon Tyne told Reuters Health. "In our study, we confirmed the
association between smaller birth weight (adjusted for gestational age)
and bone size, but not for bone mineral density."

Instead, "the study suggests that adult factors are more important than
early life events in determining bone density in middle age," co-author
Roger M. Francis, of Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle upon Tyne, told
Reuters Health.

Among 389 adults who were followed from birth, larger birth weights
predicted greater bone sizes for men, even after their adult height and
weight was taken into consideration, researchers report in the Journal
of Epidemiology and Community Health.

"Smaller babies are likely to have smaller skeletal size as adults,"
Francis explained. "As small skeletal size is also a risk factor for
fracture, these individuals may be at increased risk of fracture in
later life."

Early life, including birth weight, and other factors related to
development as a fetus, infant or child, explained some of the
variation in bone mineral density among men. Yet among women, early
life factors accounted for much less of the variation in bone density.
More significant among women, study findings show, was their adult
weight.

In fact, for both men and women, adult weight accounted for nearly 25
percent of the variation in hip bone mineral density, the report
indicates.

Further, other adult lifestyle factors also contributed to bone health
among both sexes. For example, alcohol drinking was found to be
associated with men's bone size, and decreased intake of vitamin C was
linked to decreased hip bone mineral density in men. In women, more
pregnancies was associated with less dense bones in the hip area.

This study, Francis told Reuters Health, shows that "promotion of a
healthier adult lifestyle is the public health intervention most likely
to improve bone health in middle age." In light of the findings,
Francis advises that parents ensure that children get enough calcium
and vitamin D "to optimize skeletal growth." Adults, on the other hand,
should be aware that "lifestyle factors such as avoiding smoking and
excess alcohol consumption, (engaging in) regular physical activity and
eating a balanced diet rich in calcium should help to maintain bone
health, but are not guaranteed to prevent osteoporosis or fractures
later in life."

SOURCE: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, June 2005.