Milk - Health Benefits
                                                     

Better bones:
Your bones are growing right along with you. And you need calcium now more than ever. Your "growth spurt" is just about to happen -- it typically starts around 11-13 years of age, and the "spurt" is usually done by the time you're 15-19 years old. Nearly 50 percent (that's HALF) of all bone is formed during these years! But even after your bones have stopped growing long, they are still growing strong "inside." That's why you need to pack your bones with calcium for at least another 10 years to help make them as dense and strong as possible.

How Your Body Grows
Your body needs nutritious foods to grow and stay healthy. Nutritious foods also give you energy for learning and playing. Foods can be sorted into the Five Food Groups.
The Five Food Groups are: 

Growing Up Strong and Healthy
You are in charge of your body. You are the boss. To grow up strong and healthy, you need to eat nutritious foods every day.
How do you get better bones?
It's easy -- just follow these tips:

      �        Feast on at least three servings of milk or milk group foods each day!
Try foods like chocolate milk, fruit yogurt, a taco with cheese, frozen yogurt, a slice of pizza and even a cheeseburger!
�        Be Active!
Bones become more dense (or thick) with exercise. So make sure that you pick something you like to do, whether that's soccer, dancing, biking, walking or even in-line skating. Use the 30/3 rule - exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes at least three times a week. It will make your bones rough and tough - to survive any spills.

Bones need building
Calcium is the single most important nutrient for building strong bones. During childhood and adolescence there is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build strong bones. This is why it is so important that the calcium needs of the growing skeleton are met. Milk is one of the best natural sources of calcium. Osteoporosis (thinning, weak bones that are liable to fracture) costs the National Health Service in excess of �940 million to treat each year. Around 50 per cent of the adult skeleton is formed during the teenage years. Bone growth is virtually complete by the age of 20 years. In the UK, more than one third of women and one sixth of men will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture. Building a strong skeleton during growth is the key to protecting against bone loss and fractures in later life. Our bodies cannot make calcium, we get it from what we eat and drink. Between being born and becoming an adult we need to absorb about 1kg of calcium. There is overwhelming evidence that life long adequate calcium intake augments bone gain during growth, slows bone loss in later life, and reduces the risk of osteoporotic fractures. Milk and dairy products are the major source of calcium in the British diet. A glass of milk provides a six-year-old child with 55 per cent of the calcium he or she needs every day.

But what about the fat content?
There is far less fat in milk than people think. Whole milk contains only 4 per cent fat and semi-skimmed milk contains 1.7 per cent fat. This means that a 200ml glass of whole milk or semi-skimmed milk contains less fat than a packet of crisps or a regular sized chocolate bar.

Diet & Bone Health:
Osteoporosis is a major public health problem, causing considerable pain and disability. It is a disease characterized by a loss of bone mass and a deterioration of structural strength, in which bones become fragile and susceptible to fracture. The most common sites of fracture are the spine, hip and wrist.
Bone mineral content and bone mineral density increase from infancy and peak in early adulthood. Bone loss in men and women starts at about the age of 40 years, and accelerates rapidly at the time of the menopause in women. Optimizing peak bone mass (the maximum bone mass achieved at skeletal maturity) and retarding later bone loss is recognized as the most effective ways to reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures in later life. Although genetic influences are a primary determinant of bone mass, non-genetic influences, particularly nutrition, physical activity levels and sex hormones also play a key role.

At least seven randomized, controlled trials have demonstrated that increased calcium or dairy product consumption enhances bone acquisition during childhood and adolescence. At present, it is not known whether the benefits of calcium supplementation are maintained once the supplement is withdrawn. Studies using calcium salts suggest that the benefit is short-term. However, milk appears to act through different mechanisms to calcium salts. Improvements in bone mass have been found to persist one year after cessation of supplementation with foods fortified with calcium derived from milk. Increasing dietary calcium intake has also been demonstrated to reduce bone loss, particularly in postmenopausal women.

Milk and dairy products are the major source of calcium in the British diet. Experts recommend that dietary means of achieving an adequate calcium intake should be encouraged and that it would be prudent for individuals with low amounts of calcium in their diet to increase their intake of calcium-rich foods. Those at particular risk of low calcium intakes are adolescents, young women and elderly women living in the community.

Other nutritional and lifestyle factors are also important for bone health. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism. Supplementation with vitamin D reduces fracture rates in the elderly, particularly when given in addition to calcium supplements. Bone also contains significant amounts of protein. While abnormally high levels of protein intake may not be beneficial to bone health, there is little evidence to suggest that the amount of protein consumed in the British diet is detrimental to bone health. Other factors, which play a role in influencing bone health, include phosphorus, sodium, potassium and other minerals, vitamins C and K, caffeine, alcohol, body weight and smoking.