My advice for helping kids grow nice strong bones is to send them outside, let them run and be active like we used to be. Turn off the tv, get rid of the games and learn what your feet are really for. Make it fun, kids like competion, see who can run the fastest, the longest, jump the highest, or jump rope the longest without stepping on the rope. Feet are the best transportaion when your a kid, they get you where you want to go and make you strong without even trying, at least thats how it was when i was a kid. take care...phyllis
Thanks Phyllis for some great ideas for kids! Sometimes we forget about the simple things we used to do and how much fun it can be for our kids and grandkids. The IOF is using this idea of embracing a healthy, exercise filled lifestyle, protien and calcium rich diets, and vitamin D as the foundation for strong bones. If we start these things early, like we did when we were young, our next generation will have a great start on strong bones.
I like this idea of the Unbreakable Embrace...It emphasizes our ability to continuously embrace these 3 ideas of exercise, calcium and D which we can pass on to our children.
Thanks for adding your great thoughts and for stopping by! Now if we could just get more people to be aware of strong bones, at an earlier age, and getting rid of this idea that osteoporosis is an older persons problem, maybe we can stop it in it's tracks with the help of our pre-teens, teens and young adults who are being diagnosed with bone loss at an alarming rate due to many of today's societal problems, like eating disorders, and other secondary causes of bone loss, which there are so many.
Thanks for being a loyal member here.
Hey Pam
I think that we don't often think of our bones and especially bone problems in children.
I actually have a question for you. My husband had severe scoliosis as a teen...he ended up needing surgery and to wear a body cast. Can this be genetic? Do I have to worry for my boys? I do worry about both of them getting enough calcium. My one son cannot digest dairy and the other is definitely lactose intolerant.
Any thoughts or ideas on this?
I always learn so much from coming to your site. Thank you for keeping us informed. I appreciate all your hard work to help us to be more aware of these issues.
Hi MM, most people don't think of bone loss in children and that's why I'm always trying to change that persception, because it is wrong in many cases. We know that if we start exercise, calcium and D at an early age we may stand a better chance of staving off severe bone loss as we age.
There are plenty of foods besides dairy that have calcium. Here's a list of some calcium rich foods, just ignore those your boys can't eat. Also, check the USDA food database link in the article and you'll find many more; I only included the most popular. Can they tolerate yogurt? Many who are lactose intolerant or have trouble with dairy seem to be able to eat this, and I'm one of those.
The following are some facts about scoliosis from The Southwest Scoliosis Institute and News-Medical.net
A valid question to ask is: Can it be passed on? Is it something that runs in families? And the answer is yes; scoliosis tends to run in families. It tends to run through generations in families, but to have variable effects in each generation. That is, you may have a mother with a mild curve who has a daughter with a very severe curve, or you may have a mother with a severe curve whose grandchildren then have scoliosis, but the intervening generation didn't really have any significant problem. (Southwest Scoliosis Institute)
Regarding scoliosis, The new finding lays the groundwork for determining how a defect in the gene -- known as CHD7 -- leads to the C- and S-shaped curves that characterize scoliosis. The gene's link to scoliosis was identified by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, working in collaboration with investigators at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, both in Dallas, Rutgers State University of New Jersey and the University of Iowa. The group published its results in May in the American Journal of Human Genetics. (News-Medical.net)
I hope this helps. Keep in mind that girls are 2 times more likely to contract scoliosis and it can skip generations, so there's no gaurantee that your boys would have it.
Thanks for your wonderfully kind words, you are a great friend.
Wow...this is great information Pam.
Thanks so much for taking the time to research this. My youngest son with autism can have no dairy products whatsoever...he is allergic. My eldest son...can drink skim milk and eat yogurt just fine. Now I find that my eldest has acid reflux. I am going batty trying to find things for my boys to eat. I am especially interested in the list of calcium rich foods. I am going to print this list out.
So far...my boys have not shown any curvature. But of course I worry. So many things are inherited and we...unfortunately have a ton of medical conditions between us...asthma....collapsed lung...celiac disease...my MS....so I am always worried.
I will be back to read more information here. I am desperate to get my whole family healthy.
Thanks for all you do. You are the best.
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Dear Pam!
Thanks for letting us know of the existence of such a day. It become so much more meaningful when there are people like you to advise and guide us throughout all the phases of the disease - right from its start to its tragic phases, to tell us about the treatments and their side effects and the alternatives, to tell us about exercise and calcium and the food we must take, to tell us about special exercises meant for correcting or controlling osteoporosis, to warn us of the areas most susceptible to osteoporosis and most vulnerable, the ages and the genetics and the genders, that even men get osteoporosis, to tell us of the differences between osteoporosis and the more dangerous osteomalcia, and rickets and the role of Vit D etc etc..
All I can say is that I have learnt so much from your posts that I feel I am a fit "candidate" for an osteoporosis day function -- but alas it does not exist in India nor that great an awareness about osteoporosis, except when a bone breaks. People are more afflicted by joint pains due to arthiritis and rheumatism which seems to take up their attention whereas a silent disease like osteoporosis just does not bother people here-- that is the saddest aspect of it!
Thank you so much for everything, Pam!
Yours,
Priya
Hi Priya, thanks for stopping by....You can still join the cause by going to Facebook and uploading a picture and then follow the instructions to be included for the World Awareness Day! It doesn't take long and you'll be included in the list and on the map.
Here's the link again...https://www.facebook.com/iofbonehealth?sk=app_123890654380487
On the 20th of October you can log in and see the live stream from Dubai, Caracas, Geneva, Toronto, Washington, Sydney and Singapore. Each site will stream World Osteoporosis Day activities at 2.06 pm local time. This is to reflect that there are 206 bones in the human body.
Hope you can join us virtually!