Puberty Linked With 20 Years Protection from Osteoporosis

Good bone health is something that begins in our childhood, although it seems some adolescents will be better off in terms of future wellness than others, according to a new study. The research found that the age that we begin puberty could affect the health of our bones in later years.

Healthy childhoods

Childhood is the ideal time to put in place healthy eating and exercise plans that young people can use as a wellbeing model for the rest of their lives. As adults, we may struggle to change patterns of eating and activity levels if they have been ingrained for many years! This applies to building good bones in our children now, as they rely on good bone density stores to see them through their older years. Most bone density is accumulated before we’re out of our twenties and as our hormones begin to change in our 30s we lose bone cells.

Impact of puberty

Interesting research has now shown that adolescence is more important than ever when it comes to building good bone mineral density (BMD) stores. Scientists from the Saban Research Institute monitored the bone health of young people from when they began and finished puberty. The results showed that the boys and girls who began puberty earlier built up denser bone tissue than those who did not. Although we don’t really have much control over when puberty begins, the study shows how important the role of hormones are and how BMD seems to increase the younger we hit puberty.

After puberty

Young people in the study who reached puberty earlier sometimes had as much as 20 per cent more BMD than the people who did not. The researchers explained that this could give them up to 20 years protection from osteoporosis compared with youngsters who did not have this BMD increase.