To Archives

Health & Nutrition News Alert

November - December 2003 (Vol. 7 No. 6)

Fracture Rates On The Rise Among Youth
Forearm fractures have jumped an alarming 42 percent among adolescent boys and girls during the past 30 years, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.¹ Dr. Sundeep Khosla, the lead investigator from Mayo Clinic, says that the findings raise concerns about today’s trends toward decreased milk consumption, increased soft drink consumption and changes in physical activity patterns. These lifestyle factors may hinder bone formation, which is critical during the adolescent growth spurt. Mayo Clinic is planning follow-up studies to pinpoint the factors contributing to what they’ve termed, “the adolescent fracture phenomenon.”

Providing further support, a separate study of 1,335 adolescents in Ireland, aged 12 and 15, found that girls who drink more soft drinks and less milk have lower bone mineral densities, particularly in the heel.² The authors conclude that soft drink consumption may displace more nutritious beverages, such as milk, and may increase future fracture risk among girls.

1. 1. Khosla, S. et al. Incidence of Childhood Distal Forearm Fractures Over 30 Years: A Population Based-Study. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2003; 290:1479-1485.
   2. McGartland C, et al. Carbonated Soft Drink Consumption and Bone Mineral Density in Adolescence: The Northern Ireland Young Hearts Project. J Bone Miner Res. 2003; 18:1563-1569.

Calcium Deficiency May Contribute to Rise in Rickets
Nutritional rickets, a childhood disease characterized by soft, weak bones – often recognized by “leg-bowing” – is on the rise in the United States. While it’s widely assumed that vitamin D deficiency can lead to rickets, a recent study determined that low calcium intake may play a role as well. Researchers at Yale University looked at 43 children with rickets and found that 83 percent had been weaned to a diet low in dairy products, while approximately 75 percent had normal vitamin D stores. The authors conclude that attention to calcium intakes as well as that of vitamin D is important in reducing the risk of rickets.

DeLucia MC, et al. Nutritional Rickets with Normal Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D: A Call for Reexamining the Role of Dietary Calcium in North American Infants. J of Clin Epid & Metab. 2003; 88(8):3539-3545.

Call to Action: Increase Calcium Intake with Dairy Foods
A recent research review looked at more than 200 scientific articles on the role that calcium and dairy foods play in child and adult health. Key findings from the review include:

• Dairy product consumption and calcium intake help reduce the risk of several chronic diseases including osteoporosis, hypertension and obesity;
  
• Dairy products provide an abundant source of vitamins and minerals;
  
• Children aren’t meeting their calcium needs;
  
• Dairy consumption, as part of school meals, has a positive nutritional impact on diets of children.

The author, Dr. Theresa Nicklas of Baylor College of Medicine, places a call for action to improve calcium and dairy food intake. In the review, she recommends creating healthy school nutrition environments, increasing or maintaining children’s participation in school meal programs, offering more healthy food options at schools and incorporating more behavior-focused nutrition education into current school curriculum.

Nicklas, T. Calcium Intake Trends and Health Consequences from Childhood through Adulthood. J of Am Coll of Nutr. 2003; 22:5:340-356.

Healthy Beverage Choices Promote Strong Teeth
Children are drinking more soda pop now than ever before and it may be detrimental to their teeth. A recent study in Pediatrics found that young children with cavities drink more regular soda pop and less milk than children without cavities.

Marshall, TA. Dental Caries and Beverage Consumption in Young Children. Pediatrics. 2003; 112, 3: e184-e191.

Fast Facts

Healthy Weight With Dairy
Check out www.healthyweightwithdairy.com for scientific references on the dairy and weight management connection, tips on including dairy in a weight-management plan and useful links.

NDC Applauds Wendy’s® Pilot Test Featuring Milk in Plastic Containers
Kids love milk in fun grab-and-go containers and moms everywhere give milk a thumbs up as a nutritious drink. Now Wendy’s has become the first restaurant in its category to offer lowfat white and chocolate milk in innovative grab-and-go packaging as part of a pilot test in four markets. At Wendy’s restaurants in these markets, kids can choose milk and a fresh fruit cup with their Kids’ Meal instead of soda and French fries for no additional charge.

Wendy’s move to offer milk in kid-friendly packaging is in line with results from a recent year-long study involving more than 100,000 elementary and secondary school kids which found that kids consumed more milk when it was offered in plastic grab-and-go containers and in different flavors.

Roper ASW (2002). School Milk Pilot Study: Sales Test, September 2001 - June 2002, Dairy Management Inc. and American School Food Service Association, Unpublished.

###

You can rely on the National Dairy Council and the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council of (ADA/DC) Nebraska for credible, up-to-date news on dairy nutrition research, public policies on nutritional issues and special dairy nutrition campaigns. Please browse the Nutrition/Health Research tab for more information. If you need addition information or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Director of Nutrition Education Jennifer Meyer at (402) 592-3355 or toll free at (888) NEB-MILK.