Exercise & women's bones

Women need more exercise rather than calcium to keep their bones fit, says an American study.

A study conducted by the Penn State College of Medicine suggests that women need more exercise rather than calcium to keep their bones fit.

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"Although calcium intake is often cited as the most important factor for healthy bones, our study suggests that exercise is really the predominant lifestyle determinant of bone strength in young women," Tom Lloyd , professor of health evaluation sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said.

"There was only a small positive relationship between calcium intake and bone variables, but a significant association between sports exercise score and young adult bone mass and strength," he added.

The study's goal was to obtain a comprehensive view of how calcium intake, oral contraceptive use and exercise were related to the development of peak bone mass and to the development of young adult hip bone bending strength.

"If we know how to optimize bone building and strength in youth, we may be able to develop a preventive strategy to reduce the more than 1.3 million fractures a year, which cost $14 billion a year," Lloyd said.

In a study spanning over 10 years, the researchers tracked a number of factors like body composition and hip bone measurements. The team also collected calcium intake information and also calculated a cumulative exercise score on the basis of data collected in 10 years.

Study results showed that no significant relationship exists between average daily calcium intake and total bone gain from ages 12 to 22 or in young adult hip bone mineral density. A comparison of the oral contraceptive users and nonusers showed no difference in total body and hip bone mineral density suggesting oral contraceptives have no effected on bone density.

"Our statistical analysis of sport-exercise in adolescence showed that exercise is responsible for between 16 percent and 22 per cent of the variation in hip bone mineral density and bending strength. Overall, data from the Penn State Young Women's Health Study indicates that daily calcium intake greater than 500 mg/day during adolescence does not result in clinically appreciable increased body bone accrual or increased adult bone mass," Lloyd said.