Your Health.(Health & Fitness)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), January, 2007

Teen bones at risk: Couch-potato young adults who go on drinking binges are putting their bones at risk, according to a study by Loyola University Health System. The skeleton develops in the teen and young adult years, and this bone mass is critical in later decades. Exercise, calcium, vitamin D and good nutrition help build healthy bones, said Dr.

Frederick Wezeman, professor of orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation at Loyola's Stritch School of Medicine. "Web potatoes" who spend hours at a computer rather than being active face future bone problems, Wezeman said, and binge-drinking sprees will harm their bones even more. Vitamin D can help head off bone loss. Adults need 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day, plus 600 to 800 units of vitamin D,...