Building strong bones for life

In the UK, a bone is broken every minute and over three million people are living with osteoporosis. It doesn’t need to be like this. Osteoporosis is treatable, and fractures preventable. And yet, bone health is too often overlooked. Did you know that only 20% of us actively try to improve our bone health? By giving the same thought to our bone health that we do to our weight, heart and skin, and making small, positive changes, we can help keep our bones strong for as long as possible and help avoid fractures. A new year can be a time when we consider making positive changes to our daily lives. To support you, we’ve put together our top tips for building bone strength, this new year and for life.

1. Check your risk

We all know prevention is the key to living well. Understanding your risk factors is the first step to making positive changes for the health of your bones.

Some of the most common risk factors that cause bones to lose strength include:

• Your genes: Research shows that if one of your parents broke their hip, you are more likely to break a bone yourself
• Being a woman over 50: Women going through the menopause lose bone more rapidly due to hormone changes and are at greater risk of osteoporosis. This is because levels of oestrogen (the female sex hormone that helps keep bones strong) decrease at this time. As we then move into old age, our bones lose further strength and become more likely to break in general, even beyond our bone density.
• Anti-epileptic medications and some breast cancer treatments

Last year we developed the UK’s first-ever osteoporosis risk checker, to encourage people to check their bone health. This online tool provides people with free, tailored information about their osteoporosis risk, and practical tips on how to take action to protect their bone health in just five minutes. If you haven’t already had your bones checked or had a discussion with a healthcare professional, try it today.

2. Know your history

Genes that are passed down from your parents can affect your bone strength. Research shows if one of your parents has broken a hip, you have a higher risk of breaking a bone too, particularly if your parent was younger than around age 70 at the time.

If you’ve broken a bone easily in the past, particularly after the age of 50, you will also be two to three times more likely to break another bone than someone who has never broken one. In fact, an ROS survey showed that a fifth of women who have broken a bone break three or more before being diagnosed. That’s why looking out for early warning signs that bones could be losing strength, for example breaking a bone after just a minor bump or fall, is so important.

3. Measure your shadow

Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and muscles as it helps your body absorb and use calcium, which gives your bones their strength and hardness. Low levels of calcium or vitamin D could increase your risk of osteoporosis and broken bones.

But how do you know if you’re getting enough? When the sun’s rays fall on your body, they react with your skin to make vitamin D. In the UK, your skin can only get vitamin D from sunlight between March and September. During this time, it's recommended you expose your skin to direct sunlight for around 10 minutes, once or twice per day. If your shadow is shorter than your height, your body can produce vitamin D from sunlight exposure. However, if your shadow is longer than your height, this means the sun is too low in the sky for you to be able to produce vitamin D.

As well as eating vitamin D rich foods, most people should consider a vitamin D supplement during the winter months, to support the body's absorption of calcium and other nutrients. If you think you might not be getting enough vitamin D, for example if you cover up for cultural or medical reasons, you may find it beneficial to take vitamin D all year round. Find out more on our ‘Vitamin D for bones web page.’

4. Eat a wide variety of foods

There are many vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are important for keeping bones healthy and strong, but calcium and vitamin D are key.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet with a wide variety of foods from each food group is important for getting all the nutrients needed to build and maintain healthy bones throughout life.

Find out more on our nutrition for bones web page.

5. Make these two easy lifestyle changes

Lifestyle plays an important role in maintaining good bone health.

1. Exercise can be a great way to step up for your bone health. Bones stay strong if you give them work to do and they love variety, so if you’re thinking of joining a new exercise or dance class, now might be the perfect time. You should aim for 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week. This means enough to get warm, get your heart rate up, and make you slightly out of breath. In addition, muscle strengthening exercise on at least 2 days a week is recommended. Visit our web page on exercise for bones to find out more
2. Sticking within the recommended limits of alcohol (no more than 14 units a week) and giving up smoking are both bone-boosting things you can do, as they can both affect the cells that build bone. Drinking can also make you unsteady on your feet, and more likely to trip, fall and break a bone. It’s never too late or early or late to make a difference, so if you’ve smoked in the past and have given up, your risk of breaking bones will have started to return to normal

We’d love to hear how you’ll be looking after your bones in 2023 and beyond. Get in touch at comms@theros.org.uk