- Your bones stop growing around the time you're 30
- The longest bone in your body is the thighbone
- Some bones join together as you grow
- One of your arm bones is called 'Humorous!'
- You have a bone that used to be a tail!
- Bones are hard outside but soft inside
- Your bones are alive and growing inside you
- Jumping is good for your bones
- Two bones in your feet carry most of your weight
- The smallest bone in your body is in your ear
- Your spine is made up of 33 bones
- Joints connect bones and absorb shocks
- There are 206 bones in your body
- There are 14 bones in your face
- There are 8 bones in each wrist
- Your bones consist of 50% water
- Bones are living tissue
- The smallest bone is in the ear
- The strongest bone is the jawbone
- Strong bones need calcium
- Strong bones need vitamin D
- Giraffes have the same no. of neck bones as us
Bone Health
Introduction to bone health
Bone health is dependent on good nutrition, exercise, a healthy lifestyle as well as genetic factors and amount of exposure to sunlight.
Bone size and strength is continually developed from birth until we reach our early 30s. However, the important thing to remember is that:
- Bones are living tissues in your body – that means that bones are constantly renewing themselves by losing old calcium and replacing it with new calcium.
- Approximately 90% of bone strength is achieved by around the age of 18 years. There
fore, it is fundamental that a good diet and lifestyle is followed in our early years. - Bone growth is greatest in childhood and teenage years when there are growth spurts.
- Bones are made up of soft protein matrix which is strengthened by the addition of calcium and other nutrients as well as exercise.
- Maximising your bone strength in childhood and adolescence is fundamental for bone health in adulthood.
Exercise
Exercise is really important for keeping your children’s bones strong and an active childhood is a great way to help keep bones strong as we get older.
Five exercises to build strong bones:
- Team sports such as football or netball are a great way of getting children involved in fitness from a young age.
- Skipping is good for children and young people because it adds some impact to bones. Aim for 50 jumps a day or skipping for five minutes each day.
- Jogging is great exercise and a fantastic way of building bone in both the hip and spine in younger people.
- Tennis or badminton are other high-impact, enjoyable sports that build bone density.
- Exercise to music classes and dancing are fun ways to boost bone health.