Australia's bones worse than expected

The bone health of Australians is worse than expected with 29.2 percent of us living with brittle bones. Added to this, many of us are unaware of risk factors that can contribute to poor bone quality.

New findings show that osteoporosis affects 1.2 million people and an additional 5.4 million are suffering from low bone density referred to as osteopenia. What is also surprising is that over half the men aged over 50 years are living with osteopenia.

A separate GP and Consumer Tracking Study surveyed over 200 GPs and 1,200 consumers nation-wide. Results show that while the Australian public has a reasonable understanding of calcium's role in promoting good bone health (49%) only one-in-three people surveyed recognised the need for regular exercise, and just seven per cent cited vitamin D/sunshine as being important. Worryingly, one in five respondents could not nominate a single risk factor for osteoporosis.