4 Tips For Boosting Your Child’s Bone Health (That You Probably Didn’t Know)

 Bone Health For Children

We all know how important bone health is for every day life. Without healthy bones, things like sports become impossible. Likewise, if your bones aren’t healthy, then daily tasks like getting out of bed in the mornings or cleaning the house will become extremely difficult.

Unfortunately, a lot of people realize this too late and they start desperately trying to improve their bone health when they are older. But, the thing about healthy bones is that you need to start looking after them when you’re young.

So, if you have children, then you’re going to want to make sure that you take steps to protect their bones now so that their bones remain healthy when they get older.

4 Tips For Boosting Your Child’s Bone Health

The most obvious tip is to boost your child’s bone health is to increase their calcium intake, which is why I’m not mentioning it in this article.  At this point everyone knows that calcium is necessary for healthy bones. With that in mind, here are 4 tips for boosting your child’s bone health that you probably didn’t know.

1. Vitamin D

We all know that calcium is essential for building strong bones, but what a lot of people do not know is that vitamin D is almost as important. Vitamin D is the vitamin that we get from sunlight. It’s also found in a small variety of foods. Vitamin D is responsible for helping our body to actually absorb minerals. Despite being relatively easy to get, lots of people are still vitamin D deficient.

If your child’s body lacks vitamin D, then it’s going to struggle to actually absorb the calcium that you give to your child. If you suspect that your child’s vitamin D levels might be low, then you should consider giving them vitamin D supplements. Also encourage them to go outside more and get exposed to sunshine, and give them vitamin D rich foods like orange juice, fish (specifically salmon and sardines) and egg yolks.

2. More Exercise Is Always Bood For Bone Health

Bones, much like muscles, operate on a “use it or lose it” basis. Which is to say that if your child isn’t regularly exercising their bones, then their bones will not develop properly. In fact, not moving around enough massively raises a child’s chance of developing bone issues like osteoporosis later in life. So, no matter what age your child is, you should make an effort to get them moving more.

If they’re still very young, make sure they’re out of their crib often and that they are crawling around as much as possible. For older children, make sure that they are getting around 3 hours of physical exercise a day. It doesn’t have to be intense exercise, but they should be outside playing. Doing this will ensure that your child’s bones develop properly and that they don’t lose any bone mass due to being sedentary.

Free Report: 11 Foods To Eat For Healthy Bones

3. Avoid Fat-based Calcium Products

For kids, their most common sources of calcium tend to be dairy products with a high proportion of fat. Yogurt, cheese, and regular milk. Now, these can be good for children in small amounts, but the problem with fat-based dairy products is that the body doesn’t absorb calcium as well from products with high-fat components.

So, if traditional sources of calcium are not that efficient, where should kids get their calcium from? Well, leafy vegetables like kale, broccoli, and spinach are great sources of calcium. Another good source is low-fat milk substitutes, like soy milk, almond milk, etc. Now, you don’t need to cut fat-based dairy products completely out of your child’s diet, but you should supplement them with other, better sources of calcium like the ones just mentioned.

4. Make Sure Your Child Stays At A Healthy Weight

This tip may seem obvious, but given that childhood obesity is on the rise in most developed countries, it, unfortunately, seems like a tip that quite a few parents need. Being overweight is terrible for bone health. This is true for people of all ages.

Children who are overweight are at a much greater risk of suffering bone related injuries like fractures. While that is an issue, just being overweight puts more strain on your child’s bones, specifically their joints. Given that a person’s bones continue to develop until around their 20s, putting extra stress on your child’s bones when they are young could result in issues down the road when they are older.

So, if your child is overweight, you should take steps to address that issue immediately. You can cut out the junk food, encourage them to play outside, and provide them with a  healthier diet.

The Best Foods For Bones Health

Healthy bones require two key nutrients in the proper quantities – the mineral calcium and vitamin D. Download this free report to discover 11 Foods To Eat For Healthy Bones that can help you and your child reach your daily recommended amounts of calcium and vitamin D.