Are Teens At High Risk for Bone Loss During Pregnancy?

Woman who are pregnant absorb calcium from foods more than non-pregnant woman.  It appears that even though a baby does not draw calcium from a mother's teeth, a baby does draw calcium from a mother's bones especially during the last three months of the mother's pregnancy so that the baby's bones will grow, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.  The reason the last three months is accentuated is because, while in the womb, the baby becomes more active during the last three months and it is thought that this activity is necessary for bone development.  Therefore, the calcium for the bones is drawn from the mother, during the last three months of pregnancy.

Teen mothers may be at risk for osteoporosis

Luckily, during this time, most woman do not experience any bone problems.  This does not say that there not other problems to consider.  For instance,  teenage mothers may be at especially high risk for bone loss during pregnancy and for osteoporosis later in life, stated by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

I have found that some articles call woman 15-19 years old adolescent and some articles call woman, in this age group, teens.  Paediatrics and Child Health, which is the Journal of the Canadian Paediatric Society, calls woman in this category adolescents and they state that adolescent females, very often, have diets low in calcium and iron.  It just seems that chips and fast foods are more the norm.  Unlike older women, adolescent mothers are still building their own bones.  If a woman is pregnant during these adolescent years,   the unborn baby's need to develop its skeleton may compete with the young mother's need for calcium to build her own bones, compromising her ability to achieve optimal bone mass that will help protect her from osteoporosis later in life.

Teen mothers need to maintain calcium in their diet

This indicates that pediatricians and young mother's should be very perceptive on maintaining calcium in the diet or taking calcium supplement tablets.  The Center for Pediatric Nutrition Research in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah, believes that daily calcium and vitamin D supplementation promotes greater trabecular bone mineral density and bone mass in pre-adolescent girls of age 12.

Below are excellent Calcium supplement tablets

              


Vitamin D4 can obtained by consuming either plants or animal products, such as mushrooms, eggs, meat and fish. Vitamin D3, on the other hand, can be obtained only from animals or through exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun or from tanning beds, unless via vitamins.

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