Sunday, April 5, 2009

What activities are best for strong bones?

This has been the cause of much debate amongst health professionals. Bones get stronger with any physical activity that you do. Weight bearing activities such as walking and hiking, skating and skiing, dancing, tennis, squash and basketball are great ways to include some sport and active living into your “strong bones” plan. Strength training 2-3 times a week has been shown by Dr. Miriam Nelson (a researcher at Turfts University in the USA and author of Strong Women, Strong Bones, 2000) to halt and even reverse bone loss in women.

For more information on how to add strength training into your active living program go:
http://www.caaws.ca/mothersinmotion/e/baby/activity_strength_muscular.cfm

While physical activity is important it is only one of the key players for building “strong bones”, diet is also very important. The best nutrition plan for bone health includes plenty of fruits and vegetables and foods that are high in calcium and vitamins K (dark leafy green vegetables) and vitamin D (sunlight, fortified milk and soy products, organ meats).

Vitamin D is difficult to get from your diet along and Canadians do not get enough sunlight to produce sufficient Vitamin D. If you avoid dairy products or do not drink 3-4 glasses of milk or fortified soy beverages daily a multivitamin/mineral supplement or a calcium supplement with vitamin D will help you meet your recommended daily bone building nutrient requirements.

My child is a picky eater.

Some children are picky eaters, and it can be difficult to ensure that they are getting their daily nutritional requirements through diet alone. Here are some tips on Healthy Eating, use Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating to help plan and prepare meals. It is an excellent nutritional guideline for children and adults.


  • Use colour as your guide when choosing fruits and vegetables as different colours indicate different combinations of vitamins and minerals.
  • Food such as milk, cheese and yogurt provide calcium, which is very important in building healthy bones.
  • A well-balanced breakfast remains an important meal of the day. Fruit, whole grain toast, whole grain cereal and eggs are a great start as are servings of yogurt and cottage cheese.
  • Get your children thinking more about good food choices by involving them in shopping and meal planning. They are more likely to eat their chosen foods.
  • Providing a child with a daily multivitamin formulated for children is also a good nutritional insurance policy. It ensures that your child is getting all of the vitamins and minerals needed every day.

For more information: http://www.caaws.ca/mothersinmotion/e/