New research from the Children of the 90s project suggests that teenage girls who are too thin may be at risk of osteoporosis in later life.

最新研究发现，90后的女孩子如果太瘦，她们日后患骨质疏松的风险可能会增大。

It has long been known that the amount of muscle in the body is related to bone growth, but the new study shows that fat mass is also important in building bone, particularly in girls.

众所周知，人体的肌肉与骨骼生长密切相关。最新研究显示，脂肪组织同样对骨骼发育起着重要的作用，而且这一作用在女孩子身上尤为明显。

The researchers looked at over 4,000 young people aged 15 and found that those with higher levels of fat tended to have larger and thicker bones. This connection was particularly marked in the girls.

研究人员对四千多名15岁大的青少年进行了研究。结果发现，那些脂肪较多的孩子骨骼较大，而这种联系在女孩中尤其明显。

Building strong bones in youth is particularly important for women, as they are three times more likely to develop osteoporosis, and they suffer two to three times more hip fractures¹ than men.

在年轻时让骨骼得到充分发育对女性来说尤为重要，因为女性出现骨质疏松的几率是男性的三倍，发生髋部骨折的风险也是男性的二至三倍。

Jon Tobias, Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Bristol and leader of the research, said: "There is a good deal of pressure on teenage girls to be thin, but they need to be aware that this could endanger their developing skeleton² and put them at increased risk of osteoporosis."

布里斯多大学领导这项研究的风湿病学教授乔恩·托比亚斯说，“现在的年轻女孩面临着巨大的瘦身压力，但她们需要知道，这会威胁她们的骨骼发育，加大她们患上骨质疏松的风险。”

"Many people think that exercise is the key to losing weight and building strong bones at the same time--but this may only be true up to a point. If you do a good deal of low impact exercise, such as walking, you will certainly lose fat but you may not be able to put enough stress on the bones to build them significantly."

他还说，“许多人以为锻炼既可以减肥，又可以强骨，但这可能只对了一部分。如果你做的是大量低强度的运动，比如步行，那么你可以减去脂肪，但却不能对强骨有什么助益。”

"To offset³ the detrimental⁴ effect of fat loss on your bones, it may be important to include high impact exercise as well, such as running or jumping."

“为了降低减脂对骨骼造成的危害，建议从事诸如跑步和跳跃等高强度的运动。”