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Too little milk, exercise hurting kids bones
By Lauran Neergaard
Associated Press
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Too little milk, sunshine and exercise: It's an anti-bone trifecta. And for some kids, shockingly, it's leading to rickets, the soft-bone scourge of the 19th century.

But cases of full-blown rickets are just the red flag: Bone specialists say possibly millions of seemingly healthy children aren't building as much strong bone as they should - a gap that may leave them more vulnerable to bone-cracking osteoporosis later in life than their grandparents are.

"This potentially is a time-bomb," says Dr. Laura Tosi, bone health chief at Children's National Medical Center in Washington.

Now scientists are taking the first steps to track kids' bone quality and learn just how big a problem the anti-bone trio is causing, thanks to new research that finally shows just what "normal" bone density is for children of different ages.

Dr. Heidi Kalkwarf of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital led a national study that gave bone scans to 1,500 healthy children ages 6 to 17 to see how bone mass is accumulated. The result, published last summer: The first bone-growth guide, just like height-and-weight charts, for pediatricians treating children at high risk of bone problems.

Next, the government-funded study is tracking those 1,500 children for seven more years, to see how their bones turn out. Say a 7-year-old is in the 50th percentile for bone growth. Does she tend to stay at that level by age 14, or catch up to kids with denser bones? If not, if she more prone to fractures?

Ultimately, the question is what level is cause for concern.

"I don't know if we're raising a population that's going to be at risk" for osteoporosis, Kalkwarf cautions. "It's really hard to know what the cutoff is, how low is too low."

But almost half of peak bone mass develops during adolescence, and the concern is that missing out on the strongest possible bones in childhood could haunt people decades later. By the 30s, bone is broken down faster than it's rebuilt. Then it's a race to maintain bone and avoid the thin bones of osteoporosis in old age.

"There's some early data showing that even a 10 percent deficit in your bone mass when you finish your adolescent years can increase your potential risk of having osteoporosis and fractures as much as 50 percent," says Dr. James Beaty, president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Already there's evidence that U.S. children break their arms more often today than four decades ago - girls 56 percent more, and boys 32 percent more, according to a Mayo Clinic study.

Kalkwarf's hospital recently found that kids who break an arm have lower bone density than their playmates who don't. That suggests the fracture rise isn't due solely to newer forms of risky play, like inline skates.

And last year, government researchers found overweight children were more likely to suffer a fracture, even though theoretically their bones should be hardier from carrying more weight. Maybe they have poorer balance; maybe they fall harder. Kalkwarf says there even are hints that fat itself may produce bone-harming substances.

Doctors have long known that less than a quarter of adolescents get enough calcium.

But strong bones require more than calcium alone. Exercise is at least as important. Consider: The dominant arm of a tennis player has 35 percent more bone than the non-dominant arm.

And Canadian researchers recently reported that postmenopausal women who had exercised more as teens had 8 percent stronger bone decades later than their more sedentary counterparts.

Yet childhood exercise is dropping as obesity rises.

Likewise, the body can't absorb calcium and harden bones without vitamin D. By some estimates, 30 percent of teens get too little.

It's not just that they don't drink fortified milk. Bodies make vitamin D with sunlight. With teen computer use, urban youngsters without safe places to play outdoors and less school P.E., it's no wonder D levels are low. Because skin pigment alters sun absorption, black children are particularly at risk.

Rickets marks the worst deficiency, where bones become so soft that legs literally bow. Rickets was once thought to have been eradicated with milk fortification, but "I am now treating rickets in a way that I never treated it 20 years ago," says Tosi, who diagnoses rickets or super-low D levels in children every month at a bone clinic she runs for mostly inner-city children.

Doctors who've never seen rickets can miss it. Charlene Bullock repeatedly asked her 5-year-old's doctor why his leg was bending inward and he could no longer run with his playmates. It took a trip to Tosi's special clinic to learn Na-shun had rickets - the once energetic child had quit running because his bones ached like an old man's.

Fortunately, rickets caught early is easily cured with high-dose infusions of vitamin D and calcium, and Bullock's son quickly rebounded. "He's doing everything with that little leg."

It's the kids whose low vitamin D hasn't gotten quite bad enough for symptoms that Tosi most worries about. They may never get treated.



Tips for building strong bones in kids

Building strong bones takes a combination of calcium, vitamin D and exercise starting in childhood. Here are guidelines on how much youngsters need:

• Young children should consume about 800 milligrams of calcium a day. But between ages 9 and 18, when bone growth speeds up, that requirement almost doubles to 1,300 mg. That's about three cups of fat-free or low-fat milk plus additional calcium-rich foods, such as broccoli, cheese, yogurt, or calcium-fortified orange juice.

• Children and adolescents need at least 200 international units of vitamin D. Milk and orange juice often is fortified with the vitamin; a few other foods contain it. Sunlight is a major source. About 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure weekly is enough for many children, although skin pigmentation alters sun absorption so black children need more. The goal is to get just enough sun for vitamin D production while avoiding too much of its skin-damaging rays. Babies who are breast-fed only and older children at risk for vitamin D deficiency should receive supplements.

• Children of all ages need about an hour of physical activity most days, and 10 to 15 minutes at a time can add up. Weight-bearing exercises strengthen bone, anything from team sports like soccer to simply jumping rope or running around. The goal is for the arms or legs to bear all the body's weight.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children be screened for calcium-deficit diets and too little exercise, to identify those whose lifestyles put them at risk for osteoporosis later in life.

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Reader comments on this story - 15 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

got milk??? wrote on Nov 28, 2007 4:27 PM:

" my kids love milk! they drink it all the time. they on occasion have caffinee free root beer but never more then a few ounces. they are very active. i think kids now a days are not as active and i don't think they drink enough milk either the quick and easy is the way of today!!! and computers and video games take place of bike riding jumpping rope and hid-n-seek. kind of sad really. no more playing outside till the street lights come on..... i for one don't even have a gamming system in my home or a computer. my kids play out side as much as they can. and when the winter months are here they are incouraged to use those things called imaginations!! "

To Moment of Silence... wrote on Nov 27, 2007 10:17 AM:

" JAB!! JAB!! got our JABS in didn't YOU? "

I can't~ wrote on Nov 27, 2007 10:09 AM:

" get my 3 yr old to stop drinking milk! we need to buy a cow!!! I hope it pays out for him, and he becomes "super strong dude!! :) "

Meh wrote on Nov 27, 2007 8:41 AM:

" When I was in school, not too long ago, all we had to drink was milk and water. These days, I understand they have soda machines, "fruit" drinks that are really just High Fructose Corn Syrup and dye, and other drinks with no nutritional value what so ever. But hey, I guess I should be glad that Coca-Cola and our schools can sign such lucrative contracts! "

to: native wrote on Nov 26, 2007 7:39 PM:

" The government requires they serve lowfat milk. And lowfat (or as you put it watered down) milk still has the nutrients its the sodas and the sugary stuff that gets passed off as juice that is the problem. I agrre with the education of parents is needed. My sister-in-law believes she is giving her kids healthy drinks when she gives them Hi-C (with its 10% juice content). "

Wow, wrote on Nov 26, 2007 6:13 PM:

" to "I Agree", caffeine-free does NOT always mean DIET!!! I haven't been able to have caffeine since I was 5 years old due to an intolerance; I drink pop that either has no caffeine originally (Sprite, 7-UP, Mug Root Beer, or Sierra Mist for example), or regular pop that doesn't have caffeine added (this is an added stimulant- it is not naturally found in any of the ingredients in pop-look for "caffeine free") IN MODERATION. No more than one per day. Always the regular version, as I don't like the cancer-causing ingredients in diet soda; I agree with you on that statement. I'm lucky on the children front; my daughter won't drink any pop at all. She hates it! "

stock wrote on Nov 26, 2007 5:57 PM:

" no soda is good for you, period. if you want calcium, turn off the t.v. go outside, bring back kick-ball, and eat your greens. Milk is not good for you. Milk is good for 2 things, babies and babies. Humans are the ONLY mammal to drink other mammals milk, and drink milk as adults. full grown lions don't drink milk, nor do elepahants. "

Me too! wrote on Nov 26, 2007 5:33 PM:

" I am thankful that my dad would draw a line on the outside of the bottle of soda to see if us kids drank any. Well, we would drink a little and fill it with water up to the line...that didn't work. But I am so glad we only drank water and milk, and by the way, juice is the same as soda. You should only drink one glass per day!! It's definitely not a soda sub! "

To agree with soda wrote on Nov 26, 2007 5:32 PM:

" Grandson came over with a can of Vault. He was doing gymastics all over the living room like he was completely energized and he is only 8! He needs to drink water and milk! "

I agree wrote on Nov 26, 2007 5:15 PM:

" Get the soda away from these kids; it's nothing but speed in a bottle or can, and when they crash after the intial buzz, they don't want to do anything but sit on their duffs. By the way, caffeine-free soda is no better with all the chemical aspartame in it. "

Agree with Soda wrote on Nov 26, 2007 4:54 PM:

" Soda is a huge problem. And then people wonder why their kids can't sit still for thirty seconds. I'm very thankful that my parents didn't keep much of it around and now, as an adult, I generally don't care to drink it. "

casual reader wrote on Nov 26, 2007 4:06 PM:

" Get their flabby little bodies away from the computers, outside in the sunshine and riding bikes, running, playing, etc., like kids used to. Imagine that Rickets in the 21st century - progress is our own worst enemy. "

Moment of Silence wrote on Nov 26, 2007 3:44 PM:

" Maybe these kids can use their moment of silence to pray for good hygene. "

Soda wrote on Nov 26, 2007 3:24 PM:

" The kids I know drink soda all day long. Not just plain soda, but caffeinated soda. Of course they do...because their parents let them do this. They don't know any better. Soooooooo, if we want healthy kids, train the parents! "

Native wrote on Nov 26, 2007 3:22 PM:

" Anybody tell the schools about this? They are giving watered down milk. And cutting recess and PE. "
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