July 2023 Parenta magazine

Building a skeleton!
There’s a lot more information on this
including animations on ‘Calcium and
its friends’ in my course on building a
skeleton.
Lifestyle considerations
“We could see the first generation of
children to be expected to have shorter life
spans than their parents if current trends
on obesity, nutrition and lifestyle continue.”
The Lancet Volume 371, issue 9607.
Early childhood is a time which I refer to
as a ‘window of opportunity’ for many
elements of our future health. This is
the time when we can lay down strong
foundations to support us throughout the
rest of our lives. One of those elements is
the foundations for a strong skeleton.
There are two crucial factors involved to
build a healthy skeleton; during the early
years we must invest in early childhood
movement and nutrition. Consider
childhood as a time to invest in skeletal
health rather like a bone-bank – this
investment lays strong foundations to help
a child to reach their peak bone mass
potential.
We understand that formative nutrition
shapes our future health and habits in
many ways including health conditions
that can feel are ‘set far in the future’
but these are actually influenced by
decisions in childhood. Building healthy
bones during childhood helps to prevent
osteoporosis and fractures in later life –
this is because bone mass developed in
childhood is an important factor in lifelong
skeletal health.
Bone bank
Consider childhood to be a window
of opportunity to invest in bone health
before our skeleton has reached its
peak of bone mass, after that it’s a
case of maintenance! We can invest in
bone health by ensuring two factors are
introduced and habitual;
1. Healthy food choices
2. Physical activity
Calcium for building
bones
When it comes to bone health and
nutrition, we always think of milk. Whilst it’s
true that a lot of our bone formation and
strength is supported by calcium, milk isn’t
the only source of calcium and calcium
can’t work alone! For calcium to work
effectively in the body it needs a supply
of other vitamins and minerals too; these
are just some of the nutrients which are
needed alongside calcium to support our
bone density and skeletal development.
Nutrients for bone health