A healthy diet can also contribute to more mobility in older age. For instance, it is
likely that youth is a unique time to acquire the strongest possible bones to decrease the risk of
osteoporosis in old age. Diets rich in calcium can help build stronger bones while diets rich in
protein and salt increase the chances of losing bone density later in life (33;46). Thus, it is
important to enable children to establish or reinforce personal skills, healthy perceptions and
useful knowledge in nutrition to promote their own health and the health of those they care for.
It is beneficial to teach persons healthy eating patterns when they are young since eating
patterns are established early in life and are difficult to change once they are developed during
youth (6).