Name: Amy Porter
Hometown: Alexandria, VA
Q: Tell us a little about osteoporosis. What is it and how many people are affected?
A: Osteoporosis is a disease that makes your bones weak and more likely to break. Since you can’t feel your bones getting weaker, many people don’t know they have osteoporosis until they break a bone. It’s very common –one in two women and up to one in four men over age 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis in their lifetime.
Q: What does the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) do to support those with osteoporosis?
A: NOF is the leading health organization dedicated to preventing osteoporosis and broken bones and promoting the importance of building strong bones for life. We work to achieve our mission through research, advocacy and education programs for both the public and healthcare providers. To determine the true number of people affected by osteoporosis, we recently commissioned a prevalence study that estimates 9 million adults in the U.S. currently have osteoporosis and more than 48 million have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis and broken bones.
To protect those at-risk, we’ve launched Break Free from Osteoporosis – a national awareness campaign encouraging the public to get to know their risk factors for osteoporosis and make the lifestyle changes needed to build and maintain strong bones. May is National Osteoporosis Month and we hope everyone will join us in taking action against osteoporosis this month.
Q: What are the risk factors for osteoporosis?
A: Many factors play a role in your risk for osteoporosis. Your age, gender, lifestyle, medical history, family history and whether you take medications or have medical conditions that can lead to bone loss all play a role in determining your risk for the disease. Talking to your healthcare provider about all of the factors above is the best way to determine your risk for osteoporosis. The good news is, osteoporosis is avoidable for many of those at risk, so by talking to your doctor and making the changes needed to your diet and exercise routine, you can protect your bones.
Q: When you say diet and exercise, what should we eat and what exercises are best for bone health?
A: A diet rich in calcium, vitamin D, lean protein, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats is the key to eating for healthy bones. And when it comes to exercise, both weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises are important for building and maintaining your bone density. Weight-bearing exercises make you move against gravity while staying upright and include: dancing, hiking, jogging/running, fast walking. Muscle-strengthening exercises are when you move your body, a weight or some other resistance against gravity and include lifting weights, using weight machines or elastic exercise bands or even lifting your own body weight.
Q: There’s been a lot of conflicting information in the news lately about calcium and vitamin D. What does NOF recommend?
A: We commissioned our own research to look into the tie between calcium and heart disease and found no increased risk of heart disease among women taking calcium supplements. But as always, we recommend that you aim to get the recommended daily amount of calcium you need from food first and supplement only as needed to make up for any shortfall. Vitamin D is harder to get from food, so you may need to take a supplement to get the recommended amount of vitamin D.
NOF recommends that women age 50 and younger get 1,000 mg of calcium from all sources daily and that women age 51 and older get 1,200 mg. For men, we recommend 1,000 mg of calcium daily for those age 70 and younger and 1,200 mg for men age 71 and older. When it comes to vitamin D, we recommend 400-800 international units (IU) for adults under age 50 and 800-1,000 IU for adults age 50 and older.
Q: Tell us more about Break Free from Osteoporosis. How can we get involved?
A: Break Free from Osteoporosis is the new national awareness campaign we launched for National Osteoporosis Month. In response to our new prevalence data showing 57 million Americans have or are at risk for osteoporosis, we’re using the campaign to issue a call to action for the public to get to know their risk factors and make lifestyle changes to prevent the disease. From trying a new bone healthy recipe to adding a new exercise to your regular routine, we’re working with several partners to showcase all the different ways you can take action to protect your bones this month.
Thanks to our partnership with
CIRCA, you can also support
NOF by selling jewelry you no longer wear this month.
CIRCA is generously supporting National Osteoporosis Month by donating 10 percent of the jewelry purchase value from clients who mention the
NOF partnership through the end of May. So, whether it’s jewelry that’s longer your style or an earring missing its pair, please clean out your jewelry box this month and be sure to mention
NOF to support our efforts.
Q: Who are the partners you’re working with?
A: Barbara Hannah Grufferman, a healthy aging expert and one of our Bone Health Ambassadors, is a regular columnist for
AARP.com and all month she’ll be releasing a new video each week highlighting an exercise you can add to your routine to build and maintain strong bones. Each video is short – no longer than three minutes – and shows Barbara demonstrating an exercise you can try with her at home. Of course, always check with your doctor before starting any new exercise program.
We’ve also teamed up with five of America’s top chefs and had them create new recipes that meet our bone healthy recipe criteria. All of the recipes sound amazing and are posted on our website for everyone to try. Visit the site to see the chefs we’re working with and try your hand at their recipes.
Q: What do you suggest for those looking to connect with NOF and help your efforts?
A: Please contact us and based on your interests and background, we’ll find a way for you to get involved and help. To curb the rising incidence of osteoporosis and broken bones, we’re always looking to grow our team. From donating to the organization, to starting a support group or sharing your story with others, there are many ways to get involved. Visit us at
www.nof.org or call (800) 231-4222 to learn more.