The Healthy Bones Study, led by Dr. Heather McKay, is the world’s largest study on bone health in children and adolescents. Healthy Bones was a mixed-longitudinal observational study designed to assess factors associated with bone accrual in children. Across the 14-year study (1999 to 2012), the Healthy Bones Study assessed 1071 participants (515 boys and 556 girls) recruited from 29 elementary schools in Vancouver and Richmond school districts in British Columbia, Canada. Participants were 8.8 to 12.4 years of age at baseline; ages ranged from 8.8 to 23.2 years across the 14-year study. We published over 25 manuscripts from this study.

Key findings across the many years of the study include:

• Description of bone growth, including geometry, microstructure, density and strength in boys and girls
• Positive impacts of physical activity and muscle on bone geometry and strength