Does exercise prevent osteoporosis?

WITH THE emergence of osteoporosis as a major public health concern, increasing attention has been given to the development and testing of strategies aimed at ameliorating this condition. Although one day effective therapeutic regimens may play a major role in the treatment arsenal, current progress in this area has met with mixed success. Consequently, many researchers and policymakers support the use of exercise as a potential strategy for the prevention of osteoporotic fractures. Clearly, exercise does not carry the negative stigma often associated with other preventive interventions such as estrogen replacement, and in light of recent evidence questioning the role of calcium supplementation at the menopause, 1,2 exercise has assumed a more recognized place in the array of probable preventive strategies. The assumption that exercise prevents osteoporosis has for years been a widely held belief by many of the leading workers in the osteoporosis field 3-6 ; concordant with these views,