Best Bones Forever!

In 2009, the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) launched the Best Bones Forever! program, encouraging girls aged 9 to 14 to improve their bone health through eating foods rich in calcium and vitamin D and participating in regular physical activity. To encourage participation, the program was framed around having fun and building friendships, offering a range of activities that reached the girls in the spaces where they lived, learned, and played. By engaging a diverse network of partners, OWH was able to have free campaign materials sent to communities around the country and featured in a variety of publications and events. A dance-based competition encouraged girls to create dance teams with their friends and compete, while writing competitions allowed the girls to submit stories about the activities they and their friends did to strengthen their bones. Activities such as these were paired with community-level behavior change interventions which took the form of 10-session programs focused on physical activity and nutrition for girls aged 9 to 14 and their parents. Post-intervention evaluations revealed an increase in bone health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors amongst participants in the pilot site communities.

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