Kids risking bone problems later on

[Posted: Sat 27/05/2006 www.irishhealth.com]

Over half of Irish primary school children do not undertake enough weight bearing exercise, which is essential for the health of their bones, a conference has been told.

The conference heard that over half of primary students do not reach the recommended 180 minutes of weight bearing exercise per week. This type of exercise includes running, soccer, Gaelic football, hurling and dancing.

Weight bearing exercise in early life is known to reduce the risk of osteoporosis later on.

"Established osteoporosis is difficult to treat and primary prevention is of paramount importance. Primary school children should, at a minimum, spend three hours per week on a weight bearing exercise. Since relatively little, if any, bone mineral can be added to the skeleton in adulthood, maximisation of bone mineral accrual during the growing years is essential", explained chartered physiotherapist, Deirdre Phelan.

The findings were based on a survey of 420 primary school children. They were presented at the 2nd annual conference of the Rehabilitation and Therapy Research Society at UCD Health Sciences Centre.

Dee K  Posted: 29/05/2006 20:05

The school my kids went to has so little space in the yard that running was not allowed! How\'s that for promoting health bones?

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