This article will bring you to the list of countries with highest dairy consumption and low osteoporosis rates. Insider Monkey has recently published an interesting article about it. There has been growing body of claims that milk increases a risk of osteoporosis – medical condition that causes bone weakening so even mild stress can lead to fractures. One of the main arguments is that countries with highest milk consumption are also countries that have highest osteoporosis rates. As for me, I pretty got bored with this debate. I do think milk is healthy, and I drink a lot of milk as I usually make my own cheese and other dairy products.
What’s more it is hard to determine whether there is a correlation between osteoporosis and dairy consumption. What scientists know so far is that calcium, which is found in dairy products, is necessary for developing and maintaining strong bones. Still, there is a lot of debate how much calcium adults need. Different studies have shown that taking high amounts of calcium whether through food or supplements does not lower risk of osteoporosis.
Now without a further ado let’s see what Insider Monkey has investigated for us. We have picked three of countries with highest dairy consumption and low osteoporosis rates from their list.
Lithuania ranks as one of the greatest cheese consumers in the world. Other dairy products are also consumed in large amounts in the country. Prevalence of osteoporosis in Lithuania is the highest among countries on our list. Still, according to IOF, there is the moderate risk of fractures in Lithuania. One of the main problems the country will experience in the future is aging population (54% of the population will be 50 and older by 2050) which will undoubtedly affect osteoporosis rates. Tunisia has the lowest number of hip fracture incidents per 100,000 among here mentioned places. The reason why Tunisia does not occupy a higher place on this list is lower consumption of dairy products compared to other ranked countries. This African country also has a relatively young population which means that number of patients suffering from osteoporosis will not dramatically rise in the future. Serbs like to drink milk. With 115.6 kg of white liquid drank annually per capita, the country is 22th largest milk consumer in the world. Serbia also has a low risk of hip fractures. According to IOF, there are 139 broken hips per 100,000 while other studies suggest that the number might be even lower (51 of mean annual incidence per 100,000 adults).
