Effect of Physical Activity on Skeletal Integrity and its Implications for Calcium Requirement Studies

Abstract

A major task confronting those who establish calcium recommendations is the determination of a minimum level of calcium intake that will promote bone mineralization and/or reduce bone demineralization sufficiently to aid in the prevention of osteoporosis. The evidence reviewed here indicates that physical activity plays a primary role in the maintenance of skeletal integrity. Thus, to obtain data on calcium recommendations that are relevant to the general population, it is essential that calcium requirement studies use subjects whose physical activity profile is representative of the general population.

Of all the factors known to shift the [bone] remodeling process in favor of formation, perhaps the most important, after growth, is mechanical stress…

Heaney (1982)