Stress fractures are a common injury, often related to sports or physical activity.Injury occurs when the bone is not able to withstand the pressure and force it is put under, Health news Reported.
They can also develop over time from repeated impact that might not initially cause any noticeable injury, but after multiple stress episodes it become problem for the bone structure.
Whilst it is generally noted that high calcium diets mainly from dairy products are good for bone health and strength, the authors, Kendrin Rc Sc.D., R.D., of Children's Hospital Boston, and colleagues mention in their background study that this assertion does not necessarily hold true.
The scientists looked at more than 6,100 pre-adolescent and adolescent
girls (age 9 to 15 at baseline) who were a part of the Growing Up Today Study.
Over seven years of follow up nearly four percent of the girls were seen to have stress fractures, and dairy and calcium intake was not found to be a related cause.
Conversely though, vitamin D appears to have been particularly important in maintaining healthy bones, able to withstand high impact events,particularly in those girls involved in an hour or more per day of high stress activity.
"In contrast, there was no evidence that calcium and dairy intakes were protective against developing a stress fracture or that soda intake was predictive of an increased risk of stress fracture or confounded the association between dairy, calcium or vitamin D intakes and fracture risk."