As part of National Falls Awareness week (18 to 22 June) the Oxfordshire Falls Prevention Service, part of the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, launched a film on You Tube to help people keep their bones healthy and strong.

The theme of this year’s National Falls Awareness week was “Boost Your Bones”, focusing on improving the bone health of older people and reducing the risk of falls and fractures. 

The film, made by the Oxfordshire Falls Prevention Service, concentrates on the importance of keeping bones healthy and strong.  Healthy eating, exercise and exposure to sunlight (at safe levels) are all important in maintaining healthy bones.  The film encourages people to look after their bones and gives advice on how they can do this.

Antoinette Broad, Oxfordshire Falls Prevention Service Manager, said “Caring for our bones and keeping them strong needs to start at an early age as our bone strength naturally reduces from around 30 years of age, as part of our aging process, making us more susceptible to breaks.  Sunshine is very important as 90% of our Vitamin D comes from sunlight.  Eating healthily and maintaining a healthy body weight for our age and height is also important.  There are two key nutrients in maintaining healthy bones – calcium and Vitamin D.  Milk and cheese are excellent sources of calcium whilst sardines, salmon and cereals are all rich in Vitamin D.  Physical activity is also vital in improving bone health.  All of these important factors are covered in our film which we hope will help to educate people about the importance of looking after their bones from an early age and provide them with tips on how to do this.”

The film can be found on the Oxford Health NHS FT page of You Tube https://www.youtube.com/user/OxfordHealth?feature=watch