Bone Mass: 90% of your bone mass is formed by age 18. Your preteen and teen years are the critical time to build the strongest bones possible. Peak adult bone mass is achieved by your late 20s to early 30s. Daily maintenance is essential to build the highest bone mass possible that must last your lifetime.

Calcium: Daily recommended amount is 1300 mg or 4 glasses of milk or equivalent. If you eat dairy products like yogurt and cheese, it’s easy to eat calcium-rich foods to meet your recommended calcium needs. If you don’t eat dairy products, it is harder but possible with substituting calcium-enriched products like almond milk or orange juice, along with many beans, nuts, and vegetables like kale.

Vitamin D: Daily recommended intake is 600 IU. Although exposure to sun is the main source of vitamin D, you may not be making enough all year round. In the winter months, there may not be enough sun and in the summer months, sunscreen blocks the ability to make vitamin D. Therefore, you get most of your vitamin D from your diet. All milk is fortified with vitamin D. You may want to select a yogurt that is fortified with vitamin D. Otherwise few foods like oily fish, wild salmon and tuna, are rich in vitamin D.

Exercise: Weight-bearing exercise is needed to build strong bones. If you are not on an athletic team and training year-round, you need to be working out about 60 minutes a day. Plan on other outside or in the gym activities to get your daily exercise. Keep moving.

Sodium: Too much sodium is bad; the more sodium in, the more calcium out. The recommended daily sodium intake is 2300 mg but over 90% of teens exceed that amount. The high salt content is not from the salt shaker but rather foods you eat like pizza and processed luncheon meats.