- Researchers from Penn State say exercise may be more important than calcium consumption for young women to ensure proper bone health as they get older. They studied 81 young women, aged twelve to sixteen, beginning in 1990. When the girls reached eighteen, the researchers found no relationship between calcium consumption and bone mineral density. However, there was a strong link between physical activity and bone mineral density (BMD). The researchers found that consistent activity, rather than fitness or exercise intensity, was the best predictor of healthy levels of BMD.
- Fewer high school girls meet the standards for vigorous physical activity and strengthening exercises than boys. The gender difference for vigorous physical activity is 18.8 percent (72.3 percent vs. 53.5). There is also a decline in physical activity with increasing age. This trend is more dramatic for girls than for boys. For example, between ninth and twelfth grades the percentage of boys meeting the vigorous physical activity standard set by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (activities that cause sweating and hard breathing for at least twenty minutes on three or more of the days preceding the survey) declines by 10 percent, but for girls the decline is 23 percent.
Read more: Benefits - Obesity and Physical Activity: The Foundation Position - Part Two
Benefits - Obesity and Physical Activity: The Foundation Position - Part One
By: Women’s Sports Foundation (View Profile)
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