Dietary Patterns and Pediatric Bone

Much of what we know about dietary patterns (DPs) and bone is derived from cross-sectional studies in adults. Given, establishing healthy bones during childhood serves as a blueprint for adult bone, it is important to better understand the role of DPs on pediatric bone. The purpose of this review is to determine if DPs influence bone strength in children.

The majority of studies investigating the role of DPs on pediatric bone are cross-sectional in design and examine data-derived "a posterori" DPs. Overall, the DPs characterized by high intakes of fruits and vegetables demonstrated positive effects on pediatric bone. Results from both "a posteriori" and "a priori" DPs approaches in children suggests that DPs dominated by the intake of fruits and vegetables might be beneficial for pediatric bone. Future studies may consider "a priori" DPs interventions to better understand relationship between DPs and pediatric bone.