Vitamin D for young bones

What do healthy bones need? Calcium is most likely the first thing to come to mind. But a new study reinforces the evidence that vitamin D also plays an essential role in bone health. Researchers from the Children’s Hospital Boston report that a higher level of vitamin D intake may protect girls against stress fractures.

The study, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, assessed the dairy, calcium, and vitamin D intake of over 6,700 girls aged nine to 15. Researchers followed the participants for seven years, tracking the occurrence of stress fractures, which often result from sports activities. About 4 percent of the girls developed a stress fracture over the course of the study, but those girls who had the highest level of vitamin D intake were 50 percent less likely to have a stress fracture than girls with the lowest vitamin D consumption. Contrary to what one might expect, higher calcium intake was actually linked to an increase in stress fracture risk: Those girls with the highest intake were twice as likely to develop such a fracture, a finding unexplained by the authors.

ACSH’s Dr. Ruth Kava notes that this study reminds us of the importance of vitamin D to bone health. “It doesn’t matter how much calcium you consume,” she says, “If you don’t have enough vitamin D, your body won’t be able to absorb it.” Aside from sunshine, fortified dairy products and breakfast cereals, some fish, and supplements are also good sources of vitamin D.