At 48, wellness coach Lavina Mehta knows exactly how easy it is for women to ignore their bone health. Like so many women juggling work, family and the endless mental load of modern life, she admits it simply was not something she thought about when she was younger. Now, after years spent helping women transform their health through movement, she believes osteoporosis prevention needs to become part of the everyday conversation around ageing — particularly in midlife.
‘We spend more time thinking about our skin than our skeleton,’ she says. ‘Our bones are literally holding us up.’ It is a message shaped not only by professional experience, but by her own deeply personal health journey. Before becoming a wellness advocate, Lavina was working in a ‘high powered job in the city’ while raising three sons. After the birth of her youngest child, now 18, she found herself exhausted, unhappy and struggling physically.
‘I had put on so much weight, I was double my current size,’ she says. ‘I definitely had type 2 diabetes looking back now, not that I ever tested. It’s just rife in my mum’s family and the South Asian community. I wasn’t feeling great about myself.’ At the time, exercise was not part of her life. ‘I was never into fitness or exercise growing up,’ she explains. ‘One of my key messages is that it’s never too late.’ For Lavina, everything changed when she discovered strength training. While she initially hoped it would help her lose weight, she says the emotional impact was even more profound.
Strength Training: The Key to Improving Bone Density
‘It was strength training that I just fell in love with,’ she says. ‘The mental health benefits were incredible.’ But while conversations around building muscle and using exercise to help your mental wellbeing have become more mainstream, Lavina believes bones remain overlooked. ‘I always say bones are silent until they break,’ she says. That silence is precisely what makes osteoporosis so dangerous. Bone loss often happens gradually and invisibly for years before a fracture occurs. By then, the damage can already be severe.
Statistics around osteoporosis are sobering. One in two women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis, while around half of women over 50 have osteopenia — the precursor to osteoporosis. Yet many women still do not realise that bone density begins declining decades earlier. ‘Your peak bone density is around the 30s, and then you start losing it,’ Lavina explains. ‘But it only accelerates, and those five to seven years once you hit the menopause are that critical window where you’re really losing it.’
The impact of weight loss jabs on bones is starting to come to light too. A recent study found that one third of the weight lost by people using drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro comes from muscle and bone, instead of fat. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen said that anyone using weight-loss jabs should also do strength training or they faced a heightened risk of frailty, fractures and osteoporosis in old age.
Menopause: A Turning Point for Bone Health
For Lavina, menopause became another major turning point in her understanding of health. ‘As I approached menopause early at 46 and researched more about women’s bone health while writing my book, I became increasingly aware of how common osteopenia and osteoporosis can be — particularly for women in midlife and those from South Asian backgrounds like myself,’ she says. ‘That really motivated me to become much more proactive about my long-term bone health through strength training, movement and nutrition, rather than waiting until problems arise.’ Her campaigning work has focused heavily on educating women about the links between menopause, muscle loss and bone density.
When she recently underwent a Boots bone density scan, she was shocked by the results. ‘They said it was the best result they’d seen,’ she says. ‘They wanted to know what I was doing.’ The scan, which takes seconds to complete, assesses a person’s risk of osteoporosis and can help identify concerns before fractures occur. Lavina believes tools like this could encourage women to think proactively about bone health much earlier. ‘You can find out your situation before you’ve had those fractures,’ she says.
For her, the reassuring results validated the habits she had spent years building into her own life. ‘It kind of gave me that boost that all the crazy jumps and things that my kids see me doing all day long are actually hopefully working.’ Those ‘crazy jumps’ are more important than many women realise. While strength training remains central to bone health, Lavina says impact-based movement is equally vital. ‘It’s not just strength training and resistance training, it’s the weight bearing, but it’s also those little impact exercises,’ she explains. ‘Your bones like short, frequent bursts of activity.’
Practical Tips for Everyday Bone Health
That does not mean punishing workouts or marathon gym sessions. In fact, Lavina argues that consistency matters more than intensity. ‘Get up and do 10 jumps or just some stomping,’ she says. ‘It’s about making it fun and accessible.’ Lavina recommends exercise ‘snacking’ — short, sharp bursts interspersed throughout the day. Her approach is deliberately realistic. She knows many women feel overwhelmed by the idea of lengthy exercise routines, especially during midlife when careers, ageing parents, teenagers and hormonal changes collide. ‘It’s really avoiding just sitting down all day,’ she says. ‘That’s the worst thing you can do.’
Instead, she encourages women to build movement naturally into daily life — balancing on one leg while brushing teeth, doing squats while waiting for the kettle to boil or taking regular movement breaks during work calls. Nutrition also plays a major role in maintaining healthy bones. Although Lavina is vegetarian, she has become much more conscious about ensuring she gets enough calcium, vitamin D, magnesium and protein.
After largely cutting dairy from her diet for years, she found herself craving it in her forties. ‘I was telling my friends my bones are calling out for dairy,’ she says. Now she regularly eats Greek yoghurt, kefir and cheese alongside plant-based foods including lentils, beans, tahini, avocado and edamame. She is also passionate about vitamin D supplementation. ‘I need vitamin D all year round because I’m South Asian,’ she says. ‘But I do feel that most people in the UK do need vitamin D supplementation.’
Take Action Now: Midlife Health Predicts Long-Term Wellbeing
Ultimately, Lavina believes women need to stop viewing bone health as something that only matters in old age. By the time osteoporosis is diagnosed, years of silent bone loss may already have happened. Instead, she wants midlife women to see this stage of life as an opportunity. ‘Your midlife health is your biggest predictor of your long term health,’ she says. ‘How do you want to live that last decade or two? If you want to be independent and continue to do the things you love, then now is the time to start.’
Recognised Risk Factors for Osteoporosis
- Being female, especially after menopause when oestrogen levels fall significantly.
- Experiencing an early menopause or having a hysterectomy before the age of 45.
- Men with low testosterone levels are also at higher risk.
- Low body weight, particularly in people with a history of eating disorders or excessive exercise.
- Having previously suffered a fragility fracture, such as a broken hip or wrist following a fall from standing height.
- Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.
- Poor nutrient absorption due to conditions such as Crohn’s disease or Coeliac disease.
- Conditions including Rheumatoid arthritis, an overactive thyroid, or an overactive parathyroid gland.
- A family history of osteoporosis, for example a parent who experienced a hip fracture.
- Limited mobility or prolonged immobility, such as being confined to bed due to illness.
- Certain medications, including steroids, some epilepsy treatments, and some therapies used for breast and prostate cancer.
