Beauty Queens Urge Girls Not To Sacrifice Their Bones

Interesting Statistics from The International Osteoporosis Foundation publication "Move It or Lose It" :
The more hours a woman spent sitting per day, the higher her risk of hip fractures. Women who sit more than nine hours a day are 50% more likely to have a hip fracture than those who sit for less than six hours a day.
Among elderly people, participants who practiced tai chi had 50% lower rate of falling than controls.
Strengthening back muscles can reduce risk of vertebral fractures among postmenopausal women aged 58-75 years.
Strong back muscles are significantly correlated with decreased risk of vertebral fractures and kyphosis.

Seven beauty queens from four continents have appealed to girls and young women to realize that modern ideas of “beauty” can damage their bones and lead to osteoporosis later in life. The women, from Australia, Austria, Panama, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela, were speaking at “IOF Beauties and the Bones”, an event organized by International Osteoporosis Foundation in Bangkok.
Maximum bone development takes place in girls and boys roughly between ages 11-17. By building peak bone mass during this period, young people "invest in their bones" and reduce the risk of fracture later in life, noted Professor Ghassan Maalouf, an IOF Board member from Lebanon who spoke about the importance of proper diet (including adequate calcium and vitamin D), and sufficient exercise, in building bone strength and mass. He also pointed out that certain lifestyle activities, such as eating disorders, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, can be detrimental to bone health.

It is very important to know this fact, so if you are in the age between 11-17 and you are starving yourself, you might get osteoporosis when you get older. That's why is very important to be on right diet.
For more information on osteoporosis and IOF please visit: www.osteofound.org