與骨質疏鬆相關的骨折不但好發於老年族群，且極易衍生併發症甚致於死亡。而骨質疏鬆症雖屬多因子疾患，然歷來文獻已指出身體活動對骨骼的影響適用於任何一個年齡，其帶來的承重與肌肉收縮效應通常能提供有效的外力以刺激骨形成或穩定骨量。例如有固定運動習慣的人，骨量顯著偏高；而即使是年齡高達85歲的人，活動量較高者明顯呈現骨質較緩流失的現象。此外，現今醫學尚未發現可以有效回復骨質的藥物，因此如何選擇合適的身體活動趁早在骨骼成長期即提高其基底值以獲得最佳尖峰骨量，乃至於有效維持尖峰骨量以減緩骨質流失一直是歷來學者研究的焦點。大體上，阻力運動訓練、承重型的耐力訓練、甚至於日常步行訓練均有助於減緩骨質流失的速度，然而欲得到足夠的骨骼刺激效果仍需視所採用的運動型態與運動量而定，而且養成長期持續運動的習慣才能確保正面效果的維持。此外，趁年輕時及早養成良好運動習慣有助於提高尖峰骨量而增加骨本，以降低日後罹患老年骨折的機率。因此欲促進骨骼健康，必需從小就開始運動，而且一輩子都持續不懈。

Osteoporosis is one of the most prevalent age-associated diseases affecting the skeleton and is currently a major public health problem associated with high morbidity and mortality rates especially for the geriatric population. Although osteoporosis is multifactorial, physical activity is important to the skeleton at any age because the associated weight-bearing and muscular activity stimulates bone formation and increases or at least stabilizes bone mass while immobilization leads to rapid bone loss. Furthermore, with current inability of pharmacologic agents to restore bone mass once it is lost, research interest has been focused on maximizing peak bone mass during the years of skeletal growth and maintaining it in years that follow. Basically, bone health can be modified by lifestyle choices such as adoption of resistance training, weight bearing exercises, or even daily walking activities. However, a positive osteogenic effect depends on sufficient stimulation provided in terms of the intensity of the exercise workload, duration of the exercise, frequency of training, length of the training period, and site affected by the physical activity. In addition, bone density decreases after cessation of exercise training. In conclusion, to promote skeletal health, regular exercise and physical activity is encouraged and should be adopted as a lifelong practice.