Led by Dr Ann Prentice, the aim is to identify nutrition and lifestyle strategies for the optimisation of bone health and the reduction of osteoporosis and rickets risk within the wider context of nutrition policy for calcium and vitamin D in developed and developing countries. The focus is on calcium and vitamin D, but with consideration of other dietary and lifestyle factors, including body size and composition, sunshine exposure and physical activity.
Osteoporosis, stunting and rickets are major public health concerns world-wide. In the UK, the lifetime risk of osteoporotic fractures at age 50 years is 1 in 2 for women and 1 in 5 for men. Internationally, more than 2 million hip fractures occur annually and this is projected to increase four-fold by 2050. Stunting affects millions of children around the world, with implications for the health of individuals and for national economies. Rickets, a debilitating disease of children, is a problem in many countries and is re-emerging in the UK.
Our research integrates human physiological studies at different stages of life, conducted across population groups from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, with metabolic studies of the calcium-phosphate-vitamin D system. We conduct studies in infants, children, adolescents, young adults, women during pregnancy and lactation, and older men and women. Measurements of bone mineral content, shape and size, are combined with assessments of dietary intake, physical activity, body composition, muscle function, bone turnover, and calcium, phosphate and vitamin D metabolism. Some of our studies are observational and cross-sectional, others are interventions with follow-up, others are prospective longitudinal investigations. Our work is conducted mainly in the UK and The Gambia. We also collaborate with colleagues in Shenyang Medical College, People’s Republic of China; the Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; and ICDDR,B and SARPV in Bangladesh.
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