Bone Abstracts

Objective: To determine if milk is always good for preventing osteoporosis in children anyway.

Materials and methods: Worldwide bibliography review on the problem and our experience.

Results: Studies performed in children and adolescents relate to the subject of the long-term relative effects on bone health of the protein content of the diet compared with that of the diet’s net load of acid in the body. Long-term acid loading in humans causes an increase in renal acid excretion. People taking high doses of PPIs are more likely to break a hip. PPIs interfere with the continuous breakdown and rebuilding of bone. Consumption of animal protein, grain, and high amounts of milk increases the acidity of the body. Metabolic acidosis in humans results in a significant decrease in serum IGF1 concentration without a demonstrable effect on IGF binding protein 3, and is related to a resistance to the hepatocellular action of GH. Scant evidence supports nutrition guidelines focused specifically on increasing milk or other dairy product intake for promoting child and adolescent bone mineralization. The catabolic effect on bone related to the magnitude of the diet’s net acid load can offset the anabolic effect of higher dietary protein intakes. Sodium chloride, and elevates urinary calcium excretion. Consumption of fruits and vegetables has been implicated in lowering net acid excretion. The association between fruit and vegetable consumption and indexes of bone health was first identified within the older population by the alkalizing effect of fruit and vegetable consumption.

Conclusions: Increased dietary intake of calcium during childhood, usually as calcium in milk, is associated with increased bone mass in adulthood. Whether the increase is due to the calcium content of milk, however, is not certain. Humans take milk as nourishment at any age but not the other animals.