Good healthy bones, start when you are in your mother’s womb.  For this reason, women are told to get plenty of green veggies, high in calcium content, dairy foods and fortified juices/foods and vitamin D to compensate for the mothers nutritional needs and those of her growing child.  You’ve probably heard stories, from mothers, where she lost plenty of calcium during pregnancy, and for this reason, needed to take more to nourish her skeleton and those of her baby.

What many don’t realize is osteoporosis can occur in fetuses.  It’s not all that uncommon for a baby to be very low in vitamin D which can cause fractures during birth, which leads health professionals and well-meaning social workers into believing there is some sort of physical abuse happening when there isn’t. 

You start your bone formative years when you’re in your mother’s womb; it begins during the second trimester, of your life, and continues to the age of 19, and completes this construction phase till the age of 30. It’s important to give your body the right type of nourishment to produce strong healthy bones that will hopefully prevent future bone loss when you are older and carry you through life with a healthy framework, the foundation for your body.

Follow these simple recommendations, as soon as you can, and your body will thank you for it by protecting you from some fractures that can happen in babies, children, pre-teens, teens and ages beyond.

Children and teens requirements for Calcium from the National Institute of Health

Children and teens requirements for Vitamin D from the National Institute of Health

Weight bearing exercise is also a very important factor to have strong bones while they are in production; before the age of 19.

Here’s a list of Weight Bearing Exercises good for your bones and oh so fun too, from the National Osteoporosis Foundation. 

If parents can encourage their children to start early, building strong bones, we may be able to prevent many occurrences of osteoporosis when our children and grandchildren are older and more susceptible to bone loss.  Most forms of osteoporosis occur after menopause in women, or with men—at any age—are low in sex hormones or have other bone robbing medical disorders.  Also, the secondary medical causes of bone loss and medication causes of bone loss, are major causes of osteoporosis and by starting early with a healthy calcium and D rich diet and plenty of that good old weight bearing exercise, we all love to do, we can help to prevent many occurrences of bone loss and fractures.