HEALTHY BONES ACTION WEEK
Healthy Bones Action Week | 23-29 August 2021
Most people don’t think about their bones until they have a fracture or until they reach older age. However, bones are living tissue, constantly in a state of renewal, so building and maintaining bones is a lifelong matter.
This year Healthy Bones Action Week will embrace the Tokyo Olympics and all that the great sporting event represents in the importance of building and maintaining strong bones and muscles for not only peak athletic performance, but to ensure active lives through every generation. We have partnered with athletes and health and nutrition experts to share their own stories of the importance of dairy in bone and muscle health, discuss the recommended daily intake and how it can be incorporated as part of a balanced diet.
If you're interested in understanding how dairy can support an active lifestyle and help reach your health goals, see more at Sport and Exercise.
Sam Wood
As someone with a young family and fitness-based lifestyle, I want to do everything in my power to make sure I live a long, healthy and active life. For me, the key to this is combining exercise with getting my daily serves of dairy to build and maintain healthy bones and strong muscles, now and for the future.
Snezana Wood
It’s really important to me that I’m giving my kids the best opportunity to build strong and healthy bones in these crucial formative years, so I make sure we’re always incorporating dairy milk, cheese and yoghurt into our family meals and that we’re all getting our recommended daily serves. Let’s be honest, you will never find me far from the cheese board maybe over-indulging!
Jess Hosking
As a kid, and even still as an adult, my go-to drink has always been a glass of milk.
Dairy has been a staple in my diet growing up. From a bowl of yoghurt to a cheese board washed down with a glass of milk, dairy was always featured.
Having played contact sport my whole life, I know the importance that dairy products have played in helping me perform and recover from sport. The high calcium diet has helped prepare my body for optimum performance and reduced injury risk.
Sarah Hosking
As a kid I swear I only ever ate and drank dairy products. I used to wake up and the first thing I’d drink was a glass of milk, just before I’d go to bed, I’d skull a glass of milk… and if I could avoid mum catching me, it was straight from the bottle! There was nothing worse than waking up and realising Jess had beaten me and finished the milk.
Dairy products play a huge role in bone growth and development, being so high in calcium with so many benefits. As an athlete I still ensure I consume enough dairy products and know it helps me perform and recover to the best of my abilities.
Maggie Beer
A recent bone density test showed my results in the top section of the chart. It delighted me but didn’t surprise me, as all my life I’ve had a good diet and dairy has always been part of it. I never succumbed to society’s fear of fat and have always been an advocate for butter, full fat milk and cheeses of every style available. Flavour and health have always sat side by side for me and I really believe that my innate strength comes from my diet, my love of walking every day and having a life as full and involved as my diet.
Andrew Gaze
As an Olympic athlete, eating dairy and exercising regularly were essential to my performance, and I knew they were the building blocks for strong bones and healthy muscles.
As I got older and became a father and a coach, I recognised the importance of maintaining bone health to continue leading a long, healthy and active life, and I’ve aimed to pass those values on to my kids and the next generation of athletes. I’m always encouraging them to make sure they’re getting their recommended serves of dairy, because I know it’ll help them with bone and muscle health at every stage of their life.
Discover our videos on bone health
-
Dairy Ambassador Jonathan Brown - Talking bone health
Dairy Ambassador Jonathan Brown - Talking bone health
Dairy Australia Ambassador, Jonathan Brown sits down with bone health expert, Dr Sandra Iluiano to chat about the purpose of Healthy Bones Action Week, the importance of maintaining strong bones and muscles and how Australians can look after them.
-
Dairy for bone health with Health Performance Collective
Dairy for bone health with Health Performance Collective
Australians aren’t getting enough dairy in their diet. Chloe McLeod and Jess Spendlove, Advanced Sports Dietician’s from Health Performance Collective share some delicious ways to help Australians ensure they’re getting the recommended calcium intake for healthy bones and muscles.
-
Weight-bearing workout with Sarah Piotrowski
Weight-bearing workout with Sarah Piotrowski
As well as getting safe vitamin D and the recommended intake of calcium via dairy foods, weight bearing exercise is vital for looking after the health of our bones. Sarah Piotrowski, Yoga Teacher and Personal Trainer takes us through a series of weight bearing exercises that will help build strength in our bones today and in the future.
To view the full workout version click here. -
Sports nutrition for healthy bones with St Kilda FC
Sports nutrition for healthy bones with St Kilda FC
For professional athletes, maintaining bone health is vitally important, especially for younger players in assisting growth and development, as well as performance demands. Bones provide our basic foundation structure to support our frame, protect our organs and our muscles. Ali Miles, Performance Dietician from St Kilda Football Club speaks about Healthy Bones Action Week, what it’s all about and the particular importance for professional athletes.
-
Talking kids bone health
Talking kids bone health
Kids aren’t exercising as much as they should be and for young children, 1 in 5 aren’t consuming enough dairy – a stat that increases as they enter teenage years, the most important phase for growth. Dairy Ambassador, Jonathan Brown talks to Dr. Sandra Iuliano about the importance of children’s both health and shares some tips to ensure healthy bones for life.
-
Recipe ideas for the whole family to support healthy bones and muscles
Recipe ideas for the whole family to support healthy bones and muscles
At Dairy Australia we are passionate about sport and exercise and we love good food!
We want to help athletes and active people to achieve their goals. With the help of Sports Dietitians Australia we have developed this booklet that combines practical advice with nutritious and tasty recipes for the active person. Whether you are looking for meals and snacks to fuel your body for competition, or tips on gaining muscle, this booklet provides something for you.
Here are a couple of ways you can get involved and support this important national health initiative:
1. Host a Healthy Bones Action Week initiative in your workplace, encouraging staff to take the three actions (Calcium intake through foods like milk, cheese, yoghurt, weight bearing exercise and Vitamin D through safe sun exposure) for healthy bones each day. Share daily content from @AustralianDairy to kick-start the initiative!
2. Share Healthy Bones Action Week with your social followers. Encourage all Australians to do something positive for their bone health, by taking three simple actions for Healthy Bones and give a shout out to your calcium-rich dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt), tagging @australiandairy and #HealthyBonesActionWeek
Healthy Bones Action Week has called on Australians to protect their bones since 1994. People of all ages are encouraged to take three simple actions to build and maintain healthy bones:
For schools, this year we have partnered with Life Education Australia to develop a Bone Augmentation technology that will be used in their Healthy Harold vans. To celebrate Healthy Bones Action Week, we’re asking Australian kids to design, create and film themselves running through a breakthrough ‘healthy bones’ banner for a chance to win 1 of 7 $500 cash prizes for sports equipment for their school. The banner is inspired by the kind Aussie rules players run through before a game and represents the importance of keeping active and having fun whilst doing so.
For more information and to enter, visit: www.dairy.edu.au/healthy-bones/bonehealth.
