Motivation for bone-idle teens

More reason to encourage boys to eat their fruit and veg: they help boys to develop strong bones.

Researchers at the University Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada have found that boys who ate the most fruit and vegetables showed the greatest accumulation of minerals in their bones throughout childhood and adolescence.

Higher bone mineral content translates to denser, stronger bones, and adolescence is the prime time for building bone mass. Failing to form strong bones in youth boosts the risk of problems later on, such as the brittle bone disease osteoporosis.

The researchers found that boys who consumed 10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day would wind up accumulating 48.6g more mineral content in their bones than boys who ate just a single serving.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Sept 2005, 82:700-706