Giving children foods fortified with calcium to help build up their bones may be a waste of time, say experts.
The mineral is added to many breakfast cereals, snack bars and drinks as manufacturers woo the parental market.
But scientists have found that such products do not produce significantly stronger bones, nor do they reduce the chance of a child suffering fractures.
It is thought that calcium artificially added to food passes through the body too quickly to be properly absorbed and therefore fails to perform the same functions as foods which are naturally rich in calcium, such as milk, cheese and leafy green vegetables.
It is now built into such things as Kellogg's Coco Pops, breakfast bars such as the Frosties Cereal and Milk bar, some Tropicana orange juices and even a calcium-enriched water called Danone Activ. The theory is that if children build strong bones it will protect them better against problems such as osteoporosis in later life. But the research casts doubt on the usefulness of such products.
Experts analysed 19 studies where children aged between three and 19 were given extra calcium in their diet in this way. They then measured the impact by measuring their bone mineral density and mineral content.
The team found few significant increases in bone mass and none in the two bones which are most vulnerable to fracture - the lower spine and upper part of the thigh.
A small impact was noted in bone density in the arm, but it cut the risk of fracture by just 0.2 per cent, according to the report published in the Cochrane Library. The influential publication is produced by the international health research organisation, the Cochrane Collaboration.
Lead researcher Professor Frank R Greer, of the University of Wisconsin, said the findings for children echo those seen in adult studies. "You can get some short-term improvements but as soon as you stop the supplements it goes right back to where it was," he said.
為了讓孩子的骨骼健康成長(zhǎng)，給他們吃添加了鈣質(zhì)的食品是眾多家長(zhǎng)們的選擇。而美國(guó)有關(guān)專家日前表示，這種做法可能純粹是在浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。
加鈣食品有助于骨骼成長(zhǎng)？
據(jù)英國(guó)《每日郵報(bào)》4月19日?qǐng)?bào)道，為了吸引家長(zhǎng)們購(gòu)買自己的產(chǎn)品，食品生產(chǎn)商在諸如谷類早餐、小零食以及飲料中都添加了鈣這種礦物質(zhì)。但美國(guó)科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，此類食品并不能使骨骼明顯變得強(qiáng)壯，同時(shí)不能減少孩子們發(fā)生骨折的危險(xiǎn)。
科學(xué)家們認(rèn)為，這些被人工添加到食品中的鈣在人體內(nèi)快速通過(guò)，以致不能被完全吸收。因此，這些人工添加鈣質(zhì)的食品就無(wú)法起到和天然富含鈣質(zhì)的食品相同的功效。天然富含鈣質(zhì)的食品包括牛奶、干酪以及多葉的綠色蔬菜等。
報(bào)道說(shuō)，醫(yī)生曾對(duì)眾多青少年飲食中的鈣攝入量不足的情況提出了警告，在此之后就出現(xiàn)了在食品中添加鈣質(zhì)的這種趨勢(shì)?，F(xiàn)在，一些谷物早餐、果汁飲料甚至是水飲料中都被商家加入了鈣質(zhì)。他們依靠的理論就是，如果想讓孩子在日后的生活中不易受到諸如骨質(zhì)疏松癥等疾病的影響，從小就要擁有強(qiáng)壯的骨骼。但是，一項(xiàng)最新研究卻對(duì)這些食品的有效性提出了置疑。
加鈣食品對(duì)骨骼作用甚微！
美國(guó)有關(guān)專家對(duì)19項(xiàng)研究進(jìn)行了分析。在這些研究中，年齡在3歲至19歲不等的兒童或青年通過(guò)上述方法補(bǔ)充鈣質(zhì)。隨后，通過(guò)測(cè)量其骨骼礦物密度和礦物含量的方法來(lái)檢驗(yàn)其補(bǔ)鈣的效果。研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些人的骨骼質(zhì)量幾乎沒(méi)有明顯的增強(qiáng)，而兩處最易骨折的部位——脊骨下部和大腿骨上部的骨骼質(zhì)量也未得到改善。盡管研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些被調(diào)查者手臂處的骨密度得到了很小的改善，但是這只能將該部位發(fā)生骨折的危險(xiǎn)降低區(qū)區(qū)0.2％。
此項(xiàng)研究的負(fù)責(zé)人、美國(guó)維斯康辛大學(xué)的弗蘭克·格瑞爾教授表示：“你可以從中得到短期的改善，但是一旦停止補(bǔ)充，馬上就會(huì)回到原來(lái)的樣子。”
Note:
fortified: 被添加了……
calcium: 鈣
cereal: 谷類
woo: 吸引
fracture: 骨折
leafy: 多葉的
Tropicana: 熱帶的東西
osteoporosis: 骨質(zhì)疏松癥
density: 密度
spine: 脊骨
thigh: 大腿
supplement: 補(bǔ)充
The mineral is added to many breakfast cereals, snack bars and drinks as manufacturers woo the parental market.
But scientists have found that such products do not produce significantly stronger bones, nor do they reduce the chance of a child suffering fractures.
It is thought that calcium artificially added to food passes through the body too quickly to be properly absorbed and therefore fails to perform the same functions as foods which are naturally rich in calcium, such as milk, cheese and leafy green vegetables.
It is now built into such things as Kellogg's Coco Pops, breakfast bars such as the Frosties Cereal and Milk bar, some Tropicana orange juices and even a calcium-enriched water called Danone Activ. The theory is that if children build strong bones it will protect them better against problems such as osteoporosis in later life. But the research casts doubt on the usefulness of such products.
Experts analysed 19 studies where children aged between three and 19 were given extra calcium in their diet in this way. They then measured the impact by measuring their bone mineral density and mineral content.
The team found few significant increases in bone mass and none in the two bones which are most vulnerable to fracture - the lower spine and upper part of the thigh.
A small impact was noted in bone density in the arm, but it cut the risk of fracture by just 0.2 per cent, according to the report published in the Cochrane Library. The influential publication is produced by the international health research organisation, the Cochrane Collaboration.
Lead researcher Professor Frank R Greer, of the University of Wisconsin, said the findings for children echo those seen in adult studies. "You can get some short-term improvements but as soon as you stop the supplements it goes right back to where it was," he said.
為了讓孩子的骨骼健康成長(zhǎng)，給他們吃添加了鈣質(zhì)的食品是眾多家長(zhǎng)們的選擇。而美國(guó)有關(guān)專家日前表示，這種做法可能純粹是在浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。
加鈣食品有助于骨骼成長(zhǎng)？
據(jù)英國(guó)《每日郵報(bào)》4月19日?qǐng)?bào)道，為了吸引家長(zhǎng)們購(gòu)買自己的產(chǎn)品，食品生產(chǎn)商在諸如谷類早餐、小零食以及飲料中都添加了鈣這種礦物質(zhì)。但美國(guó)科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，此類食品并不能使骨骼明顯變得強(qiáng)壯，同時(shí)不能減少孩子們發(fā)生骨折的危險(xiǎn)。
科學(xué)家們認(rèn)為，這些被人工添加到食品中的鈣在人體內(nèi)快速通過(guò)，以致不能被完全吸收。因此，這些人工添加鈣質(zhì)的食品就無(wú)法起到和天然富含鈣質(zhì)的食品相同的功效。天然富含鈣質(zhì)的食品包括牛奶、干酪以及多葉的綠色蔬菜等。
報(bào)道說(shuō)，醫(yī)生曾對(duì)眾多青少年飲食中的鈣攝入量不足的情況提出了警告，在此之后就出現(xiàn)了在食品中添加鈣質(zhì)的這種趨勢(shì)?，F(xiàn)在，一些谷物早餐、果汁飲料甚至是水飲料中都被商家加入了鈣質(zhì)。他們依靠的理論就是，如果想讓孩子在日后的生活中不易受到諸如骨質(zhì)疏松癥等疾病的影響，從小就要擁有強(qiáng)壯的骨骼。但是，一項(xiàng)最新研究卻對(duì)這些食品的有效性提出了置疑。
加鈣食品對(duì)骨骼作用甚微！
美國(guó)有關(guān)專家對(duì)19項(xiàng)研究進(jìn)行了分析。在這些研究中，年齡在3歲至19歲不等的兒童或青年通過(guò)上述方法補(bǔ)充鈣質(zhì)。隨后，通過(guò)測(cè)量其骨骼礦物密度和礦物含量的方法來(lái)檢驗(yàn)其補(bǔ)鈣的效果。研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些人的骨骼質(zhì)量幾乎沒(méi)有明顯的增強(qiáng)，而兩處最易骨折的部位——脊骨下部和大腿骨上部的骨骼質(zhì)量也未得到改善。盡管研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些被調(diào)查者手臂處的骨密度得到了很小的改善，但是這只能將該部位發(fā)生骨折的危險(xiǎn)降低區(qū)區(qū)0.2％。
此項(xiàng)研究的負(fù)責(zé)人、美國(guó)維斯康辛大學(xué)的弗蘭克·格瑞爾教授表示：“你可以從中得到短期的改善，但是一旦停止補(bǔ)充，馬上就會(huì)回到原來(lái)的樣子。”
Note:
fortified: 被添加了……
calcium: 鈣
cereal: 谷類
woo: 吸引
fracture: 骨折
leafy: 多葉的
Tropicana: 熱帶的東西
osteoporosis: 骨質(zhì)疏松癥
density: 密度
spine: 脊骨
thigh: 大腿
supplement: 補(bǔ)充