Volume 89, Issue 6, June (2003), pp. 835-840 © The Author 2003
doi:10.1079/BJN2003855

UK Food Standards Agency Optimal Nutrition Status Workshop: environmental factors that affect bone health throughout life

Lynn Burns^1,*, Margaret Ashwell², Jacqueline Berry³, Caroline Bolton-Smith⁴, Aedin Cassidy⁵, Matthew Dunnigan⁶, Kay Tee Khaw⁷, Helen Macdonald⁸, Susan New⁹, Ann Prentice⁴, Jonathan Powell¹⁰, Jonathan Reeve⁷, Simon Robins¹¹ and Birgit Teucher^12
1Food Standards Agency, Aviation House 125 Kingsway, London WC2 6NH, UK
²Ashwell Associates, Ashwell Street, Ashwell, Hertfordshire SG7 5PZ, UK
³Vitamin D Research Group, The Medical School, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, UK
⁴MRC Human Nutrition Research (HNR), Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK
⁵Unilever, Colworth House, Sharnbrook, Bedford MK44 1LQ, UK
⁶Department of Human Nutrition, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow G31 2ER, UK
⁷University of Cambridge, Clinical Gerontology Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK
⁸University of Aberdeen, Medicine and Therapeutics, Osteoporosis Research Unit, Woolmanhill Hospital, Aberdeen AB25 1LD, Scotland, UK
⁹School of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK
¹⁰Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Kings College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NN, UK
¹¹The Rowett Research Institute, Greenburn Road, Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9SB, Scotland, UK
¹²Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK

 (Received 17 December 2002–Revised 17 February 2003–Accepted 17 February 2003)

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) convened a group of expert scientists to discuss and review UK FSA- and Department of Health-funded research on diet and bone health. This research focused on the lifestyle factors that are amenable to change and may significantly affect bone health and the risk of osteoporotic fracture. The potential benefits of fruits and vegetables, meat, Ca, vitamins D and K and phyto-oestrogens were presented and discussed. Other lifestyle factors were also discussed, particularly the effect of physical activity and possible gene–nutrient interactions affecting bone health.

Abbreviations: APOSS; Aberdeen Prospective Osteoporosis Screening Study; BMD; bone mineral density; FSA; Food Standards Agency

Keywords:
Bone, Osteoporosis, Fracture, Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, Phyto-oestrogens, Salt, Silicon, Physical activity