Breaking news: Fractures on the rise among children

USA TODAY ^ | 9/16/2003 | Kathleen Fackelmann

[presidio9]

Wrist fractures among kids and teens have risen dramatically during the past 30 years, shows a study out Wednesday. The findings raise the concern that kids today aren't building up enough bone, perhaps because they're drinking more soda pop and less milk, the researchers say. Weak bones may put kids at risk of painful and costly fractures, they say.

[Batrachian]

You'd think fractures would be on the decline after they banned Lincoln Logs.

[UB355]

That evil game of soccer is responsible

[DoughtyOne]

They had the charts in front of them but couldn't be bothered with the cause of these fractures?

Not too worry, parents shouldn't wait for this to be explained, just buy more milk and give it to your children. We'll get back to you.

Hmmmmmm.....

Do I smell a dairy association study? Smells like sour milk from here.

[kaktuskid]

The phosphoric acid in cola drinks takes calcium out of your system, I understand.

[Dog Gone]

When I was a kid, well over 30 years ago, I broke both wrists and a hand in three separate incidents. I don't even remember how many fingers I broke. Snow skiing, football, horseback riding, and softball were the causes. And I guzzled the milk.

My college-age son, who drinks Diet Vanilla Coke as his primary source of liquids, I think, has never broken a bone despite the fact that he's at least as active as I was as a kid.

Of course, maybe I was just a klutz.

[Calvin Locke]

Okay, who stopped drinking TAB, even after they added the calcium?

I'll be the first to blame PETA, along with chemical company that developed that growth hormone.

[MarkT]

Clearly the solution is to prohibit more children, unless of course they do not have limbs. In the alternative, there should be a federal program that, in the event, a child incurs a broken or fractured limb, the Federal Government will pay for the repair of said limb and afford such other useful, necessary or convenient emoluments to provide for the repair and subsequent care and feeding of such child. In the case they have no limbs, we should then provide for all care and feeding because such individuals (they are children, after all) are handicapped - no, they are not cripples, they are merely limb-deprived and deserving of all that society has to offer.

[FITZ]

It might be because kids today are far less active ---- when they do decide to go outside and try to ride a bike or climb a tree, they aren't very agile or in very good shape, they're much more likely to fall and be injured.

[Mark was here]

This just in...



A new study shows that children in plastic bubbles a less likely to get hurt. The study shows that if all children were in plastic bubbles the scourge of childhood injuries could be eliminated in our lifetime.

[jocon307]

I vote for the psycho anti-fat people as resonsible for this decline in the health of our children. They are probably being forced by their diet conscious soccer moms to drink disgusting 2% milk, or worse, 1%, or horror of horrors, skim milk. Disgusting all, and not God's plan.

[FITZ]

That's true too ---- kids never allowed to be in the sun or to drink whole milk would be Vitamin D deficient and would have weak bones.

[presidio9]

"Ouch! My bones are so brittle. But I always drink plenty of... [picks up carton] ..."Malk"? What the..." -Bart Simpson

[jwalsh07]

Smae here, I drank more milk than any kid should. I also climbed higher trees, skateboarded recklessly and played center field and running back with abandon if not Willy MAys like grace. The result, broken bones. 8 of them.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

their diet conscious soccer moms

Are these the same women who think that if you drink a diet coke, and inhale four cheeseburgers at the same time, they cancel each other out?

[dawn53]

The team found the highest fracture rates in girls ages 8-11 and boys ages 11-14

My son drinks lots of milk and no sodas, but when he was 13 he broke his hand. The reason he was in a tussle with his 13 year old cousin and the cousin's head was harder than my kid's hand.

Of course the fact that the orthopedist told my son he had a "boxer's fracture" didn't help to reinforce the lesson I had hoped he'd learn from fighting with his cousin.

What 13 year old wouldn't be proud to be sporting a cast because of a "boxer's fracture." I told the orthopedist, they should change the name, especially when dealing with adolescent boys.

[netmilsmom]

>>Do I smell a dairy association study? Smells like sour milk from here.<<

Maybe. Let me tell you, I see three year olds drinking pop/soda at my daughters preschool and there is no milk for sale at the 1st grader's school at lunch.
They all drink colored sugar water in a drink box.

My daughter carries milk in a thermos.

[Rodney King]

Is it possible that fractures weren't widely reported 30 years ago? Perhaps back then kids just went to the local doctor who put their wrist in a splint, and then threw the record of the vist away a year later.

[ladylib]

It's not enough that they have to wear helmets when the go bike riding, or wear all sorts of protective gear when they go skateboarding. I think that all children should be put into a bell jar and placed on the mantel until they reach 21.

[hope]

Yes, it does. Not only that but, you could clean off your battery cables with the stuff..

Another thought for broken bones is the popularity of skateboarding and roller blading.