A 25-year study has recently revealed that bone loss in the femoral neck–that slender area that is most easily fractured–decreased by only an average of 10% over that same length of time.

Dubbed the Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention (OSTPRE) study, the research team followed 14,200 women between the ages of 47 and 56 who lived in the Kuopio region of eastern Finland. Additionally, 3,000 women participated in a randomized study in which they have their BMD measured every five years. This is an ongoing study which will continue to inform this area of women’s health.

And guess what?? One of the Associate Professors from the University of Eastern Finland, Joonas Sirola, reported that weight gain during the study protected against bone loss!

This is good news for so many of us who live under the threat of fracture and debilitation as we age.