Healthy Eating for Stronger Bones

Learning Objectives I know that I must ‘put bone in the bank’ now to prevent osteoporosis when I am older. I know that I must eat a healthy balanced diet with calcium rich food to build stronger bones.

Why do we need to build strong bones 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 get older.

How can we build strong bones? Eat a healthy calcium-rich balanced diet Do weight-bearing exercise like dancing, jumping and skipping Get lots of vitamin D from sunshine and some foods

What is a balanced diet?

Why is calcium important? Calcium is vital for strong bones and teeth. Our bodies contain about 1kg of calcium and 99% of it is found in our bones and teeth. Most people should be able to get enough calcium through healthy eating.

Which foods are calcium rich? Dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese. Green leafy vegetables such as curly kale. Bony fish such as sardines and pilchards. Dried fruit such as apricots and currants.

Why do we need Vitamin D? We need vitamin D to help our bodies to absorb calcium. The best source is sunlight. You should be able to get enough vitamin D through diet and by enjoying an active, outdoor lifestyle during the summer months. Don’t forget to be safe in the sun! Vitamin D can also be obtained from a small number of foods in our diet.

Which foods are rich in Vitamin D? Oily fish such as sardines, mackerel and pilchards. Don’t forget to eat the bones in tinned fish! Egg yolk Margarine Breakfast cereals

Healthy Eating Tips Eat fruit and vegetables, at least 5 portions a day. Eat fish and remember to mash the bones into tinned fish such as sardines. Don’t skip breakfast, it kick starts the day!

Log onto the bones4life web site and have some fun with us!