Dairy intake may improve adolescent bone health
August 19, 2008
by Keith Nunes
CINCINNATI — Research conducted by Dr. Lynn Moore and colleagues from the Boston University School of Medicine indicates childhood dairy consumption contributes to bone health of adolescents, according to a new study in The Journal of Pediatrics.
The researchers studied data from the Framingham Children’s Study, which was launched in 1987 with the goal of studying childhood cardiovascular risk behaviors, in an effort to understand the relationship between childhood dairy intake and adolescent bone health. The researchers used information from 106 children who were three to five years of age at the beginning of the study. The families enrolled in the study were given food diaries to complete for the child and asked to record everything the child ate or drank over a specified period each year.
The Boston University researchers used the diaries and information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to calculate the average daily intake of dairy and other foods for the children.
At the end of the 12-year period, the authors assessed the bone health of the now adolescent study participants. They found that the adolescents who consumed two or more servings of dairy per day as children had higher levels of bone mineral content and bone density. Even after accounting for factors that affect normal bone development, the researchers found the adolescent’s average bone mineral content was 175 grams higher than the adolescents who consumed less than two servings of dairy per day.
"Children who consumed more than two or more servings of dairy and 4 oz of meat or other non-dairy protein had bone mineral contents over 300 grams higher than those children with lower intakes of both dairy and other proteins," Ms. Moore said. here to search that archive.
This article can also be found in the digital edition of Dairy Business News, August 19, 2008, starting on Page 4. Click