Research from the Menzies Research Institute made waves at the recent Australia and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society Annual Conference in New Zealand, with researchers taking out two of the major prizes on offer.

Research from the Menzies Research Institute made waves at the recent Australia and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society Annual Conference in New Zealand, with researchers taking out two of the major prizes on offer.

Research Fellow Dr Tania Winzenberg and PhD student Stella Foley have just returned to Hobart from the conference in Queenstown and another in Hawaii, where the research of Menzies' Musculoskeletal Group attracted interest from around the world.

Dr Winzenberg was awarded the Kaye Ibbertson Award for the best five papers published in scientific journals in the last five years.

"My research over the past five years has concentrated on aspects of osteoporosis prevention, in particular those that are most relevant in childhood and young women," said Dr Winzenberg.

"For example, in one review paper which was published in the British Medical Journal last year, I found that calcium supplements have very little benefit for preventing fractures in childhood and later adulthood, and that other approaches could be more beneficial such as increasing vitamin D concentrations and eating more fruit and vegetables.

"In another study, we found that giving women aged 25-44 years feedback on their risk of future fracture based on bone density measures, resulted in them improving lifestyle behaviours which increased bone mass.

"It is pleasing to have my work recognised by the research community in this way. We have a talented group of researchers working in this area at Menzies and the impact of our research continues to grow," she said.

PhD student Stella Foley won the Young Investigator Award for the best clinical presentation by a young investigator at the conference.

"The research that I presented at the conference concerns how childhood bone mass, which is related to osteoporosis risk, changes over time," said Ms Foley.

"I showed that the majority of children who had the highest bone mass at age eight compared to their peers go on to have the highest bone mass compared to their peers at age 16. The majority of children who had lowest bone mass at age eight also go on to have the lowest bone mass compared to their peers at age 16.

"This shows that bone mass tends to 'track' from childhood to adolescence, which is when the majority of adult bone mass is determined.

"With this finding in mind, it is possible to identify children at an early age who will be at risk of osteoporosis later in life.

"Physical activity is beneficial for increasing bone mass and it has the best effect prior to puberty, so these children can be identified and entered into programs at the time they will do the most long term good," she said.

Osteoporosis is a major public health problem, particularly in women, and low bone mineral density is an important risk factor for osteoporotic fractures. Bone density worsens for women after the menopause, so intervention in childhood to maximise peak bone mass by improving factors such as diet and physical activity can minimise the impact of bone loss related to age.

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