JEDDAH, 8 November 2006 — The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) has joined hands with various agencies to intensify efforts to wage a war against the ‘silent killer.’ The focus is on how individuals can take responsibility for their bone health by healthy eating, staying active, and being aware of risk factors for osteoporosis.
The IOF identifies milk and other dairy foods as being among the richest and most readily available dietary sources of calcium, an essential nutrient in building bones.
Nourishing food and a healthy lifestyle play a vital role in building and keeping bones strong, according to Dr. Salih Al-Ansari, general director school health (boys), Ministry of Education.
“Osteoporosis is a disease of childhood, which manifests later in adulthood, where the density of bone is reduced increasing the risk of fracture. Around the world, it affects one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50,” Dr. Ansari said.
“In an adult, the bone is composed of organic protein, which represents 10 percent of the bone mass, and minerals represent 65 percent — mainly calcium, phosphorus and water with a little of magnesium and sodium,” Dr. Khalid Al-Madani, consultant nutritionist at the Ministry of Health and vice president of Saudi Society for Food and Nutrition, said.
“As the rest of your body, your skeleton needs a well-balanced healthy diet to keep it fit and healthy. Moderation and variation is the key. It needs minerals and vitamins that milk provides. But that’s not all, you still need to undertake physical exercise to keep healthy bones growing and strengthening because they suffer if you don’t. So you should exercise at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes each time,” he added.” The IOF is an international NGO that seeks to advance the understanding of osteoporosis and promote prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this disease worldwide.
Jorgen Haglind, senior vice president communications at Tetra Pak Group, which has an ongoing cooperation with the IOF for promoting osteoporosis awareness, said: “Tetra Pak’s motto, protects what’s good, which summarizes the core business philosophy of the company as practiced in different ways in our business operations. We’re supporting the IOF to express our commitment to help protect the health of people around the world.”