From running around the home to running around in the office, everyone needs strong bones to keep their body mobility accurate. But while, as adults, your diet needs to be nutrient-dense to keep your bones strong, this is even more critical for young children whose bones are still developing. The foundation of strong bone begins at a young age. When kids have a growing and developing age, that is a critical time for developing strong, healthy bones.
There should be a balance between exercise and a healthy diet to give your body the much-needed nutrients to support the formation of strong bones. Adequate levels of calcium and vitamin D will go a long way in helping a child build the kind of strong bones they will need later in life to help fight against.
It is easy to take bones for granted. After all, they do all their work behind the scenes. But when a bone breaks, it is a big deal. Bones take time to heal, even for kids. This is why it is important to have strong bones in childhood. It is a good start for bone health throughout life.
There is much that can be done to promote the development of healthy bones during childhood and adolescence. Creating the optimal environment for healthy bones starts early: even before birth, optimal nutrition and healthy lifestyle in an expecting mother can make a difference to her child’s future bone health.
In children, the most rapid periods of bone growth occur from birth to two years and around puberty, when sexual maturation takes place. This is roughly from age 11 to 14 in girls and 13 to 17 in boys. During puberty, the speed of bone build-up in the spine and hip increases by approximately five times. In girls, the bone tissue accumulated during the ages 11 to 13 equals the amount lost in the 30 years after menopause.
Childhood and teenage years represent the crucial time for the development and strength building of skeletal. During this formative stage, bones undergo significant growth and maturation, laying the essential groundwork for lifelong bone health. As children and teenagers progress through these vital years, their bones steadily increase in both size and structural integrity, reaching maximum height in the mid to late teenage years. However, the peak of bone mass, the point at which bones have attained their greatest strength and density, is not typically achieved until around age 20.
As a child grows, the increase in their bone mineral mass is predominantly due to an expansion in the size of their bones, rather than a significant change in bone density, which refers to the amount of actual bone tissue present. It's crucial to recognize that even when a teenager has reached their full height, they have not yet attained their maximum peak bone mass. From birth up until the onset of sexual maturation, the bone mineral mass is comparable between girls and boys.
However, during the puberty stage, bone mass accumulates more rapidly in males than in females. This discrepancy is largely attributed to the longer period of accelerated growth experienced by males, resulting in their bones becoming larger and thicker compared to their female counterparts. This physiological difference is an important factor in the development of the skeletal system, as the attainment of peak bone mass is a key determinant of overall bone health and strength later in life.
Calcium is essential for healthy bone development. Demands are particularly high during the rapid period of growth for teenagers. Dairy foods like milk, yoghurt, cheese are the most abundant sources of calcium in the diet and contain other important nutrients for growth. Up to 80% of dietary calcium intake for children from the second year of life onwards is from dairy products. Additional food sources of calcium include certain green vegetables, whole canned fish such as sardines, nuts and tofu set with calcium. Calcium enriched juices, cereals and bread are also widely available in some countries.
Vitamin D is essential for bone growth and health at all ages as it helps the body absorb calcium and deposit it into the skeleton. A failure to ensure adequate vitamin D can jeopardize bone development in children. The most abundant natural source of vitamin D is through exposure to sunshine, as only a small group of foods are naturally rich in vitamin D like oily fish, eggs, and exposure to sunlight.
In addition to calcium, protein plays a key role in bone health, with higher protein intake resulting in bone mass gain in children. In contrast, under-nutrition during the growth period, including insufficient protein and calorie intake, can severely impair bone development. Protein-rich foods include meat, fish, eggs, beans, nuts and seeds.
Building strong healthy bones is crucial for growing children, and trance minerals and vitamins play a vital role in this process. Selenium, copper, phosphorus and magnesium are essential trance minerals that work together to promote bone formation and density. The rare vitamin K and B vitamins also play an essential role here. These minerals and vitamins help the body to effectively absorb and utilize this bone mineralization. The structural protein that gives bones strength and flexibility, ensuring kids get enough nutrients through a balanced diet.