Children with frequent fractures double the risk of fractures as adults

ⓒ Daily Post = image courtesy/Flickr

ㅣDaily Post = Reporter Kim Jeong-eunㅣIt is not uncommon for people to have had a fracture in childhood, but there are also people who have never had a fracture in their life. As a result of analyzing follow-up data over 50 years, it was found that ‘those who have experienced multiple fractures in childhood are more than twice as likely to have fractures as adults’.

Approximately 25% of boys and 15% of girls, about half of all children who break bones in childhood, experience two or more fractures. However, it is not known why some children have repeated fractures or whether childhood fracture propensity predicts bone health later in life.

Previous studies have shown that children from poor families, vigorous exercise, high BMIs, low vitamin D intake, low calcium intake, and physically abusive environments are more prone to fractures.

Dr. Kim Meredith-Jones, a senior researcher at the University of Otago in New Zealand, said, “The important question is whether children who suffer fractures temporarily lose bone strength during rapid growth, and whether the fragile bone health continues into adulthood. is in,” he said.

To find out the association between fractures in childhood and bone health in adulthood, Dr. Meredith Jones’ research team analyzed data from the ‘Dunedin Study’ of babies born in the New Zealand city of Dunedin.

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The Dunedin Study is a program that follows 1,000 people born between April 1972 and March 1973 for 50 years from immediately after birth. It is evaluated on various items. In addition, face-to-face interviews asking questions about injuries, including fractures, from a young age are repeated, so it is possible to compare the history of fractures in adulthood with the history of fractures in childhood.

As a result of data analysis, it was found that boys and girls who experienced multiple fractures as children were more than twice as likely to have fractures as adults compared to other people. On the other hand, those who did not have a fracture experience in childhood tended to maintain a condition that was difficult to fracture even after becoming an adult. In addition, childhood fractures in females were associated with lower hip BMD after adulthood, but this trend was not seen in males.

This paper is the first study to show that both men and women who have repeated fractures in childhood have a high risk of fractures in adulthood.

It is not yet clear why children with frequent fractures in childhood are more likely to have fractures later in life. Persistent risk, however, was not associated with other behavioral factors such as demographics, risk behavior, obesity, child abuse, or sport participation.

“It’s unclear why fractures in childhood increase the risk of fracture in adults, but there are steps you can take to prevent fractures,” said Dr. Meredith Jones. Exercise), adequate intake of calcium and vitamin D, and behavioral changes such as increased protein and dairy intake are the only interventions that can be maintained over a lifetime.”

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