Last Updated: December 22, 2022, 16:59 IST
Childhood fractures can thus predict the risk of osteoporosis in future.
About 50% of children who break a bone at an early age are likely to suffer from multiple fractures in the future.
Breaking a bone during your childhood is thought of as a common injury. Playing, running around, climbing stairs, and many such activities that kids are continuously learning to do better every day can be the reason for their bone injury. While people do not consider this to be a major setback, fractures in early childhood might be a sign of future fractures and osteoporosis.
According to Indian Express, the Dunedin study — which is a comprehensive longitudinal project and has been going on for five decades — revealed in an investigation that a group of middle-aged people with a history of fractures in childhood had more than double the risk of breaking a bone as an adult. In women, this was also the reason for lower bone density at the hip at age 45.
Childhood fractures can thus predict the risk of osteoporosis in future.
About 50% of children who break a bone at an early age are likely to suffer from multiple fractures in the future. Children who get fractures repeatedly may also have fragile bones and may be prone to accidents.
People who were studied as a part of the unique Dunedin study, which tracked the development of a thousand babies, were born in Otepoti Dunedin between April 1972 and March 1973. The study found that both boys and girls, who suffered more than one fracture as a child were more than twice as likely to experience a fracture as an adult. People who never faced a fracture as a child tended to stay the same in their adulthood.
