Many Finnish young people are at risk of developing osteoporosis as a result of poor diet and insufficient physical exercise, local media reported Monday.

Osteoporosis, a bone disease that leads to an increased risk of fracture, has tended to affect post-menopausal women, but is now afflicting children and youths in Finland, said the media.

Some experts said in the modern era teenagers like to spend more time in front of computers instead of playing outside, and to drink sweet sodas instead of milk, and this kind of lifestyle is harmful to bone health.

About 400,000 Finns have been affected by osteoporosis in different levels, but most of them do not know it yet, the media said.

Osteoporosis itself has no specific symptoms, and its main consequence is the increased risk of bone fractures. Typical fragility fractures occur in the vertebral column, hip and wrist.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)