The most effective way to maintain strong healthy bones it is to eat a diet and follow an exercise regime that helps promote strong bones and do plenty of weight bearing exercise. This is especially important for women.

Here are some tips to help maintain healthy bones:

• Including calcium rich foods in your diet is important for maintaining strong healthy bones. On average, women aged 19 - 50 years require 1000mg of calcium per day and women aged >50 years of age require 1,300mg of calcium per day. Dairy products are an excellent source of calcium, so aim to eat 2 - 3 servings everyday and where possible try to choose low fat varieties. Calcium can be found in foods like low fat milk, cheese, low fat yoghurt, fish with edible bones (salmon, sardines), calcium fortified soy products (low fat milk, tofu) and fortified breakfast cereals.
   
• Produced when the skin is exposed to sunlight, vitamin D is necessary for the absorption of calcium. Most people obtain sufficient vitamin D to meet their needs in this way, but we also obtain vitamin D through dietary sources such as margarine, low fat dairy products, oily fish and eggs.
   
• Limit use of salt and limit alcohol and caffeine consumption. These can interfere with the body's balance of calcium because they increase the amount of calcium lost in the urine.
   
• Keep active, regular weight bearing exercise is very beneficial  e.g. a circuit on machine weights at a gym, exercises with free weights, exercises that use your own body weight as resistance e.g. push-ups and squats or even walking.