1. Sneakers says, ‘Exercise for Strong Bones’

2. Learning objectives I know that weight-bearing exercise builds stronger bones I know that I need to build strong bones now to prevent osteoporosis when I am older

3. Put bone in the bank, now! During childhood, when the skeleton is growing, we need to build bone strength. By ‘putting bone in the bank’ we will have strong bones for when we naturally start to lose bone strength when we are older.

4. Why exercise now? 010203040506070 Bone Mass/Density Age (years) Getting to your peak bone mass Age-related bone loss Men Women Ref. Compston J.E. Clinical Endocrinol 1990

5. Why should we exercise? Bone is living tissue which reacts to weight-bearing exercise by growing stronger. Weight-bearing exercise means any exercise where you are supporting the weight of your own body.

6. Are these weight-bearing?

7. Which sports will build strong bones? Football Netball Basketball RoundersHockey

8. Sport Team sports like football, netball and hockey are good for bone building. Tennis is another high impact but enjoyable sport that builds bone strength.

9. What do you do each day to build strong bones?

10. Exercise Jumping on the spot or skipping is good for children’s bones. Aim for 50 jumps a day or skipping for 5 minutes every day. Exercise to music classes, like aerobics, circuit training and boxercise will boost your bone strength. A 20 minute jog 3 times a week is good for building bone in both hip and spine in younger people.

11. Remember! Put bone in the bank now! Do weight-bearing exercise to make your bones strong. Can you learn a new sport?

12. Log onto the bones4life web site and have some fun with us! www.bones4life.org