Description): The focus of this research will be on the determination of the risk factors for bone fragility fractures in growing individuals by using a case-control method. The research will permit: 1)the determination of bone mineral density of the forearm, spine, hip, and of the whole skeleton in children and adolescents with distal forearm fracture as well as in normal controls; and 2) the determination of dietary calcium intakes in cases and control. The hypothesis is that children with distal forearm fracture due to moderate trauma have substantially lower bone mineral density at the forearm and other skeletal regions of interest, and lower dietary calcium intakes. This data base will be a major resource for the determination of risk factors for bone fragility fractures during growth. In addition, this research will provide significant believable evidence that calcium may immediately reduce the number of fractures in children. This will be a powerful incentive to maintain healthy nutritional habits with regard to research data important for the design of a large scale intervention study with calcium n young Americans, looking for the reduction in the fracture incidence as the primary outcome variable.
