Vitamin D plus calcium in various age groups:
Vitamin D plus calcium supplementation is known to increase bone mineral density of the spine and other areas starting in early age childhood, college age, postmenopausal, and in women well into old age. (6,7,8)
Exercise, bone mass, and calcium:
Exercise and calcium is better than calcium alone. The link between exercise and calcium supplementation on bone mass was examined in 104 college-aged women (mean age of 22.3). Sixty-two of the women with low bone mass were included in a 3-month study (though only 60 completed the study). These women were split into 3 groups: an exercise group (n = 21), a group that took a calcium supplement at a dose of 500 mg per day (n = 21), and a control group (n = 20). The women’s distal radius (forearm) T-scores and mid-shaft tibia (shinbone) scores were taken both before and after the interventions. Results showed that approximately 60% of the 104 participants had low bone mass. After the 3 month interventions, the women in the exercise group showed significant improvement in their distal radius SOS T-scores and mid-shaft tibia scores, compared to the other 2 groups. The calcium-supplement group also showed improvements compared to the control group. The researchers conclude that their findings show that young women who exercised had the highest improvements in their bone mass, when compared with the women in the calcium-supplement and control groups. (7)