Bone density and milk Consider fat as well as calcium intake Consider fat as well as calcium intake

BMJ 1994;308:1566 (11 June)

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Bone density and milk Consider fat as well as calcium intake Consider fat as well as calcium intake

EDITOR, - Sean Murphy and colleagues concluded that milk consumptionshould be encouraged during childhood and adolescence to preventosteoporotic fractures in later life.¹ This, however, promptsseveral questions.

Firstly, the subjects in the authors' study were asked to categorisetheir milk consumption without estimating their past total calciumintake. It is known that many subjects who do not drink milkconsume other dairy products (cheese and ice cream). Secondly,the subjects had to recall their milk consumption up to age25, which was a long time before the study (50 years for the74 year old woman). It could as well be concluded that goodmemory makes strong bones or vice versa.

If the results are reliable they lead to an interesting speculation.It is known that calcium supplementation increases bone massin childhood.² This does not occur later in life. Might calcium,or some other agent in dairy . . . [Full text of this article]

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Relevant Article

Milk consumption and bone mineral density in middle aged and elderly women: S Murphy, K-T Khaw, H May, and J E Compston
BMJ 1994 308: 939-941. [Abstract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Lanou, A. J., Berkow, S. E., Barnard, N. D. (2005). Calcium, Dairy Products, and Bone Health in Children and Young Adults: A Reevaluation of the Evidence. Pediatrics 115: 736-743 [Abstract] [Full text]