Teenage girls dieting to reach size zero are putting their bones at risk. This might lead to long term problems such as osteoporosis. Fat mass plays an important role in building bone especially in girls.
4,000 young people aged 15 were tested using scanning techniques that calculated the shape and density of their bones.It was also calculated how much body fat they had. People with higher levels of fat had larger and thicker bones. The amount of muscle in the body was found to be related directly to bone growth. An 11lb (5kg) increase in fat mass in girls was associated with an 8 per cent increase in the circumference of the lower leg bone. Fat plays an important role in female bone development, the positive influence was about 70 per cent greater in girls.
Being anorexic leads to prematurely thin bones. Girls tend to have higher levels of fat than boys, even when they are normal weight. Bone mass continues to increase into the mid twenties but after the age of 35, bone loss increases as part of the natural ageing process. Building strong bones is important for women as they are three times more likely to develop bone thinning, or osteoporosis. Women suffer up to three times more hip fractures than men in later life.
After so much media hype with size 0 there is a good deal of pressure on teenage girls to be thin. But girls should be aware that this could endanger their developing skeleton and put them at risk of osteoporosis.