ABSTRACT
The principal cause of osteoporotic fractures is reduced bone mass, and the increased risk of fractures later in life is related to a failure of the skeleton to achieve optimal mass and strength during the growing years (Raisz, 2005). Childhood and adolescence are particularly important periods of early life to maximize bone accrual because the skeleton undergoes rapid change to accommodate the processes of growth, modeling, and remodeling (Faulkner and Bailey, 2007). Recent data con-„rm that peak bone mass likely occurs by the end of the second decade or early in the third decade and that over the circum-pubertal years 33% to 43% (depending on site) of adult bone mineral content (BMC) is accrued (Forwood et al., 2007; Baxter-Jones et al., 2011).
