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Dairy Council

Bone Health

The role of calcium in building and maintaining healthy bones is well established, and dairy foods are recognised as important sources of calcium, supplying up to two thirds of intake in our diet.

However, milk and dairy foods also contain other nutrients needed for bone health including protein, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin K2 (and vitamin D in the case of fortified dairy). The beneficial effects of dairy foods on bone may be greater than can be explained by any single nutrient they contain or even the sum of the nutrients, suggesting a synergistic or ‘matrix effect’. Increasingly, the science indicates that the nutrients and other components of the dairy matrix work together to help maintainhealthy bones.

Presentations on bone health from our conferences and symposia are below. 

You can download an overview on Dairy and Bone Health here.

ESPEN Congress, Lyon, September 2023

Fighting Fractures and Falls with Food

Dr Sandra Iuliano, University of Melbourne
Preventing fractures, falls and malnutrition - results of a dairy intervention trial for older people in residential care

Watch the symposium and download the symposium brochure.

DCNI Nutrition & Health Conference, Belfast, March 2023

Dr Sandra Iuliano, University of Melbourne
Improving dairy consumption in residential care homes: a food-based strategy to prevent fractures and falls in older adults

Watch Dr Iuliano's presentation here.

Interview with Dr Sandra Iuliano and Prof David Armstrong, Belfast, October 2022

On behalf of the European Milk Forum, Professor David J Armstrong interviewed Dr Sandra Iuliano about her study showing that providing extra dairy foods to older people in residential care could significantly reduce fractures and falls.

Find out more about the study and watch the full interview here.

See a short clip of the interview here.

European Geriatric Medicine Society Congress (EuGMS), London, September 2022

A focus on food: effective nutritional approaches to improve musculoskeletal health in older people

Dr Sandra Iuliano, University of Melbourne
Fractures and falls - prevention through food. Results of a dairy intervention trial for older people in residential care

Watch the symposium and download the symposium brochure.

ESPEN Virtual Congress, September 2021 

Health effects of dairy foods: new insights based on the food matrix concept

Dr Sandra Iuliano, University of Melbourne
The importance of the dairy matrix for musculoskeletal health

Click here for the webinar booklet

 

The European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD) Food Matrix Webinar, June 2021 

Health effects of dairy foods: new insights based on the food matrix concept

Dr Sandra Iuliano, University of Melbourne
Musculoskeletal health: the importance of the dairy matrix effect

Watch the webinar here; Download the webinar booklet here

 

DCNI ‘Milk It’  Sports Nutrition Seminar, Belfast, December 2019

Professor Louise Burke, Australian Institute of Sport  
New ideas about calcium and bone health in athletes

 

Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) 13th European Nutrition Conference, Dublin, October 2019

Professor René Rizzoli, University Hospitals of Geneva
Dairy matrix effects on musculoskeletal health

Read the abstract of Prof Rizzoli’s presentation here.

 

 

World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (WCO–IOF–ESCEO), Paris, April 2019 

summary of dairy and bone health

Professor Arne Astrup, University of Copenhagen 
Beyond nutrients: the matrix effect, including bone health

 

World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (WCO–IOF–ESCEO), Krakow, April 2018

Microbiota and bone health summary

 

DCNI ‘Milk It’  Sports Nutrition Seminar, Belfast, October 2017

Professor Susan Lanham–New, University of Surrey 
Influences of diet and exercise on bone health in athletes


DCNI & European Milk Forum (EMF) Symposium, Belfast, October 2017

Dr Michelle McKinley, Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast
Muscle, bones and body fat: dairy matrix effects on body composition


DCNI Nutrition & Health Conference, Belfast, April 2017

Dr Eamon Laird, Trinity College Dublin
Dairy and the elderly: evidence to support the policies


World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (WCO–IOF–ESCEO), Florence, March 2017

Symposium on Dairy Products & Bone in 2017: from health benefits to health economics:

Dr Mickael Hiligsmann, Maastricht University, Netherlands
Saving lives and resources by preventing osteoporotic fractures with dairy products

Summaries of the presentations can be downloaded here
‘Take home’ messages from Symposium chair Professor René Rizzoli, University Hospitals of Geneva

 

World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (WCO–IOF–ESCEO), Malaga, April 2016 

Dr Véronique Coxam, Clermont–Ferrand University, France 
Osteosarcopenia: cross–talking between muscle and bone

 

DCNI Nutrition & Health Conference, Belfast, May 2014

Dr Kelsey Mangano, Harvard Medical School, Boston
An update on protein and bone health