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Bones are for
life!
Learning Objectives
• I know that I must put ‘bone in the bank’
now to prevent getting osteoporosis and
broken bones in later life.
• I know that I can protect my bones by
eating a balanced diet, and doing weightbearing exercise.
Why do we need our bones?
• As a framework for our bodies.
• To protect vital organs such as the heart
and lungs.
• If we didn’t have bones we might look like
this!
Which animal is this?
A rabbit!
Which animal is this?
A cat!
Are our bones alive or dead?
Alive!
• They continue to grow until we are about 18
years old.
• We have until we are about 25 years old to
make our bones really strong.
Put your bone in the bank now!
Bone Mass/Density
Getting to your peak
bone mass
Age-related bone loss
Men
Women
0
10
20
30
40
Age (years)
Ref.Compston J.E. Clinical Endocrinol 1990
50
60
70
Healthy Bone
Osteoporotic bone
If you don’t look after your
bones they could look like
this!
You need to eat a
balanced diet to
build strong
bones.
What is a balanced diet?
Why is calcium important?
• Calcium is vital for strong bones and teeth.
• Our bodies contain about 1kg of calcium
and 99% of it is found in our bones and
teeth.
• Most people should be able to get enough
calcium through healthy eating.
Which foods are calcium
rich?
• Dairy products such as milk,
yoghurt and cheese.
• Green leafy vegetables such as
curly kale.
• Bony fish such as sardines and
pilchards.
• Dried fruit such as apricots and
currants.
Why do we need Vitamin D?
• We need vitamin D to help our bodies
to absorb calcium.
• The best source is sunlight.
• You should be able to get enough
vitamin D through diet and by enjoying
an active, outdoor lifestyle during the
summer months. Don’t forget to be safe
in the sun!
• Vitamin D can also be obtained from a
small number of foods in our diet.
Which foods are rich in Vitamin D?
• Oily fish such as sardines,
mackerel and pilchards.
Don’t forget to eat the bones
in tinned fish!
• Egg yolk
• Margarine
• Breakfast cereals
Healthy Eating Tips
• Eat fruit and vegetables, at
least 5 portions a day.
• Eat fish and remember to
mash the bones into tinned
fish such as sardines.
• Don’t skip breakfast, it kick
starts the day!
Weight-bearing exercise
builds strong bones.
Put bone in the bank, now!
• During childhood, when the
skeleton is growing, we need to
build bone strength.
• By ‘putting bone in the bank’ we will have strong
bones for when we naturally start to lose bone
strength when we are older.
Why should we exercise?
• Bone is living tissue which
reacts to weight-bearing
exercise by growing stronger.
• Weight-bearing exercise
means any exercise where
you are supporting the weight
of your own body.
Are these weight-bearing?
Which sports will build strong
bones?
Football
Basketball
Netball
Rounders
Hockey
Sport
• Team sports like football,
netball and hockey are good
for bone building.
• Tennis is another high impact but
enjoyable sport that builds bone strength.
What do you do each day to build strong
bones?
Exercise
• Jumping on the spot or skipping is good for
children’s bones. Aim for 50 jumps a day or
skipping for 5 minutes every day.
• Exercise to music classes, like aerobics, circuit
training and boxercise will boost your bone
strength.
• A 20 minute jog 3 times a week is good for
building bone in both hip and spine in younger
people.
Activities for strengthening muscle and
improving balance
Vitamin D
• The sunshine vitamin. We get
90% of our vitamin D from the
sun.
• We need vitamin D to help
your body absorb calcium.
Remember!
• Eat a balanced diet.
• Do weight-bearing
exercise regularly.
• Get your vitamin D
Log onto the bones4life web site and
have some fun with us!
www.bones4life.org