Consumption of Soft Drinks and Risk of Osteoporosis among College Students

The strength of adult bone reflects factors that regulate bone quality (architecture) and density (bone mass or quantity of calcium deposited/unit of bone) acquired during childhood and adolescence. Near-maximal or peak bone mass of the vertebrae and femurs is achieved at the completion of pubertal development. Because inexorable loss of bone mass begins in mid-adulthood in normal people, the magnitude of peak bone mass determines individual risk of later development of osteopenia and osteoporosis-disorders of compromised bone strength that lead to bone fragility and increased fracture risk.