A large handful of dates and a big glass of ice cold milk. Yum! This simple snack was my daily childhood after school energy replenishment. Without realising it I was making great deposits in my bone bank account when my body most needed it – the teenage years. About 45% of our total skeleton is laid down in adolescence. How strong our bones get during this mega-growth period determines our bone strength for the rest of our lives.

It’s sort of like an n shape. We build up calcium in our bones until our early 20’s, it tapers off for the next 20 or so years and then we hit the calcium down-hill slide. As adults we can slow down this calcium loss but what counts most is how much calcium we had in our bones to start with. This is why it’s so important for teenagers to eat plenty of calcium. Compared with children or young adults, teenagers actually absorb more calcium from their food. It’s a great design feature that helps them meet their huge calcium needs – around 4-5 serves of dairy foods each day.

There are three key bone builders: calcium, protein and phosphorous. Dairy foods such as low fat milk, yoghurt and cheese have the perfect balance of all three. Plus the natural sugar in milk – lactose – enhances calcium absorption. You can also get calcium from fortified soy drink, canned salmon and sardines (the bones), and in smaller amounts from legumes, tofu, green vegetables and almonds. For the same amount of calcium in a glass of milk you would need to eat 2.5 cups of broccoli or 165 grams almonds.

Last week I received my annual superannuation statement from a small amount of money stuck in Australia. It just sits there with the fees slowly eating it away. It’s the same with our bones. Too much salt, caffeine, alcohol -  and any amount of smoking – are like bank fees eating away at our bone bank account. And drinking lots of fizzy drinks, especially the ones with caffeine, is like having a mortgage on your bone bank account. Not only does it replace milk as a drink or snack, it also upsets the calcium:phosphorous balance necessary for strong bones.

What we want on any bank account is lots of interest. Here’s three ways to get it on your bone bank account. Do 30-60 minutes of weight bearing exercise most days. Get some sunshine on your skin each day so your body can make vitamin D to assist calcium absorption. Eat plenty of calcium rich foods.

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