Nutrition For Healthy Bone Growth In Children

Healthy bone growth is important in childhood and puberty, and for this the diet has to be right.

Healthy bone growth is the basis for a stable skeleton. The building blocks for this are laid by the diet, which you can influence yourself or prepare for your children.

What does your child need to eat to have healthy bone growth ?

What does it take for healthy bone growth?

To encourage bone growth, many children are given a glass of milk every morning. But the glass of milk for the daily portion of calcium is not the ultimate wisdom.

Milk alone cannot strengthen bones, calcium can only be built into our bones if vitamin D3 is available as an “installation aid”. You don’t have to eat cow’s milk products to get calcium either! Vegans can also meet their calcium requirements in a healthy and purely plant-based way.

Calcium

Adolescents between 10 and 19 years of age have an increased need for calcium because their bone growth is in full swing. The German Nutrition Society (DGE) recommends a daily calcium intake of 1200mg, adults should take in 1000mg per day with their diet.

When calculating the daily amount of calcium in the diet, it must not be assumed that the entire amount of calcium contained in the food is actually used by the body.

This depends on many factors, such as vitamin D and the combination of foods.

Also oxalic acid from various vegetables, for example, rhubarb, inhibits calcium absorption. Coffee, alcohol, salt and protein promote the excretion of calcium.

It is important not to take in the entire daily calcium requirement with one serving, because the body cannot use it.

Which foods is calcium in?

The daily glass of milk for breakfast, which Mama put on the table for us every morning, served to make us “big and strong”. And it really is: Dairy products are one of the best sources of calcium.

Anyone who has removed dairy products from the menu can also cover their calcium requirements vegan, because some vegetables and nuts also contain a relatively high amount of calcium.

Drinking calcium-rich mineral water every day is the easiest method for a high calcium intake.

Dairy products contain a particularly large amount of calcium; the more concentrated the milk in them, the more. Hard cheese such as Parmesan can contain around 1200mg / 100g, up to 10 times the amount of calcium as the same amount of milk.

Among the vegetables, kale, broccoli, fennel and Chinese cabbage with up to 250mg in 100g are pioneers. With nuts and seeds it is possible to absorb a lot of calcium very quickly if you choose the following varieties:

• Poppy seeds (2500mg / 100g),
• Sesame (800mg / 100g)
• Almonds and hazelnuts (200-250mg / 100g).

Also wholemeal bread carries with 50g / 100g in the supply of calcium. As you can see: a healthy, balanced diet can cover the calcium requirement even without dairy products!

Vitamin D as an installation aid

Calcium alone brings relatively little to the body; it needs the “installation aid” vitamin D, which is essential for calcium metabolism. Your body can produce vitamin D itself from sunlight, only a maximum of 20% of it is absorbed through food.

So if you want to enable healthy bone growth for your children, send them out into the fresh air!

If your child is a “chronic couch potato” and cannot keep face and arms in the sun for at least 20 minutes every day, you should think about an additional dose of vitamin D in the form of tablets with your doctor.

He will also use a blood test to determine how your supply of the “sun vitamin” is doing.

Exercise strengthens the bones

Regular exercise protects against degeneration of muscles, bones and joints! Light exposure to pressure promotes stable bone mass.

Movement keeps muscles (or builds them up) and keeps joints flexible. So: after eating healthy bones and joints, take a digestive walk or send your children to the door to let off steam and at the same time ensure healthy bone growth.

By the way: all of these recommendations for healthy bone growth apply not only to your children, but also to you if you want to prevent osteoporosis!