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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 12:30 P.M. (CDT) ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2005

CHILDHOOD EXERCISE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED PEAK BONE MASS

Nashville (Sept. 23, 2005) – Regular physical exercise in children significantly increases their bone mineral content, according to four-year data from the Pediatric Osteoporosis Prevention (POP) study reported today at the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).

Approximately 30 percent of the bone mass built over a lifetime can be influenced by non-genetic factors such as exercise. Previous studies have shown that physical activity increases bone mass and may therefore help prevent osteoporosis. However, the POP study is the first controlled, population-based trial in growing children with more than two years of follow-up data to support that hypothesis.

Christian Linden, M.D., and colleagues at Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden, evaluated the effect of an exercise intervention on the bone mass of 121 seven-year-olds at a Swedish elementary school. The children participated in 40 minutes of physical activity each school day for four years. A control group of age-, height-, and weight-matched children in nearby schools participated in the standard Swedish physical education curriculum, 60 to 90 minutes of exercise per week. Researchers used dual x-ray absorptiometry to measure bone mineral content in each group at baseline and at regular intervals for four years.

The researchers found that boys in the intervention group had a significantly greater annual increase in bone mass at the spine than boys in the control group. Girls in the intervention group had significantly greater increases in bone mass at the spine and the femur than girls in the control group.

ASBMR President-Elect Elizabeth Shane, M.D., notes: “Osteoporosis may be considered to be a pediatric disease with geriatric consequences. This study is of major public health significance because not only does it demonstrate that regular physical activity during childhood increases bone mass accrual, it also indicates that the effect is sustained over several years. In this day and age, children drink more soda and less milk and watch television and play computer games instead of playing out of doors. The potential for these choices to have an adverse impact on reaching optimal peak bone mass and on future susceptibility for fracture is great. The fact that a relatively simple school-based intervention can have such a sustained positive impact on bone mass provides support for the notion that retaining regular daily physical activity in the curriculum will provide long-term benefit to individuals and to society.”

To obtain a copy of the scientific abstract, contact Ms. Melissa Haynes (contact information above).

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The ASBMR Annual Meeting is the preeminent international scientific meeting on bone and mineral research. More than 5,300 medical professionals and scientists from around the world are expected to attend the September 23-27, 2005, meeting in Nashville, where more than 1,900 research abstracts will be presented. The ASBMR is the foremost professional, scientific and medical society for the promotion of bone and mineral research and the translation of that research into clinical practice. To learn more, visit the ASBMR website at www.asbmr.org.

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