Osteoporsis in Hasidic Youth

May 16, 2001

Remarkable item on joint health in yesterday's

NYTimes weekly science section: May 15, 2001

SOME TRADITIONS POINT TO BONE DISEASE By ERIC

NAGOURNEY A study of teenagers in an ultra-Orthodox

Jewish community found that many boys had strikingly low

bone mineral densities, a condition that could leave

them vulnerable to osteoporosis later in

life. The researchers from Maimonides Medical Center in

Brooklyn conducted the study as part of an effort to

determine the roles of genetics, sex hormones and cultural

patterns in causing osteoporosis. They studied a Jewish

group in Brooklyn because traditions of the

ultra-Orthodox can limit exposure to some factors that promote

bone density and because peak bone growth occurs in

adolescence. In an article this month in the journal Pediatrics,

the researchers wrote: " The ultra-Orthodox Jewish

lifestyle encourages scholarly activity in preference to

physical activity. Additionally, modest dress codes and

inner-city dwelling reduce sunlight exposure. Orthodox Jews

do not consume milk products for six hours after

meat ingestion, leading to potentially fewer

opportunities to consume calcium. " They tested 30

healthy boys and 20 girls, and found that 54 percent of

them had density levels significantly below normal.

Eight boys met the criteria for a diagnosis of

osteoporosis. The boys as a group had " profoundly lower " levels

of bone density in their spines, leading the

researchers to speculate that sex hormones as well as

lifestyle factors were likely at work. They

recommended that the children in this community be given

calcium supplements and be encouraged to walk more. " This

group is at great risk for the morbidities of poor bone

health, " the researchers wrote. **** Tom

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