Health article index >> Young Women Vulnerable to Bone Loss Mothers tell your Daughters...... Osteoporosis may be perceived as an illness that strikes only the elderly and frail, but scientists say there's growing concern young women are placing themselves at risk for the disease down the road. Young women's obsessions with being thin may deprive them of calcium-rich foods they need to maintain strong bones and reduce their risk of osteoporosis when they grow older, researchers reported at the World Congress on Osteoporosis meeting in Chicago, which concluded Sunday. Marketing calcium supplements and calcium-fortified foods to this population isn't going to work, Dr. Robert Heaney of Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., said, because young women and teenage girls aren't concerned about bone density. Many people are unaware they're at risk for this degenerative condition or that they have already developed it until they suffer a fracture, usually in the hip, spine or wrist. About 8 million American women, most of them Caucasian, and 2 million American men have osteoporosis. Health officials recommend teenagers, young adults and the elderly consume 1,500 milligrams of calcium daily. That's about four to five servings of milk, yogurt or cheese. Some soy products, such as soy milk, calcium-enriched orange juice and leafy green vegetables are also good sources of this important mineral. A study published earlier this month in Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine cautioned against teens and adolescent females from consuming too much soda and not enough milk because of the potential for osteoporosis. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Neville H. Golden of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York wrote that osteoporosis "should no longer be considered only a geriatric disease, but rather a pediatric disease with geriatric consequences." By Katrina Woznicki http://onhealth.com/ Health article index >> News I Health I Wellness I Exercise I Profiles I Business I Links I Women ROCK! Product Review I To the Point I Contact I Home Created by: Art Street Design Studio. © Concerning Women Communications, Inc. all rights reserved.