Kids: Avoiding Bone Loss

Here are important steps you and your child can take to avoid excess bone loss:

Salt
Researchers have known for a long time that higher salt (sodium) intake leaches calcium from the bones.¹⁰ The kidneys have the job of filtering excess salt into the urine. When they let the sodium pass out of the body, calcium flows out with it. This means the more salt your children consume, the more calcium they lose, and the more they need in their diets to replace the calcium that is leaving. Lowering salt intake will reduce bone breakdown and calcium loss. To do this, you may want to eliminate salty snack foods and canned goods with added sodium, and reduce or eliminate salt use on the stove and at the table.

Protein from Animal Sources
In 1992, a researcher from Yale University studying animal protein intake and hip fracture rates in 16 countries around the world found that those with the highest meat, fish, egg, and dairy product consumption had the most fractures.¹¹ They speculated that protein from animal products might stimulate bone breakdown and encourage calcium loss from the body. Since then, other researchers have confirmed this observation.^12,13 As you will recall, animal protein–dense foods make the blood more acidic. The body responds by pulling calcium and other minerals out of bones to neutralize the acid and sending it out in the urine. Building your child's diet from fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes is a good way to reduce this excess calcium loss and protect bones.

Smoking
You already know that smoking increases susceptibility to colds and other respiratory illnesses and increases the risk of heart attacks and cancer. But did you know that smokers excrete more calcium than non–smokers? A study of identical twins showed that if one twin was a long–time smoker and the other was not, the smoker had a 40 percent higher risk of a fracture.¹⁴

Caffeine
It may surprise you to learn that the caffeine in sodas, coffee, and other beverages and foods slightly increases the loss of calcium from the body.¹⁵ Try to get in the habit of serving water with meals. You may also want to keep little bottles in the refrigerator for kids on the go. It makes good parenting sense to offer water first and nutritious juices, soy, or rice milks second.