Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of osteoporosis for women, South Korean medical research showed Friday.

A research team of orthopedists from Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital Seoul and Korea University Ansan Hospital found that women who drink lightly two to three times a week had higher bone density than those who drink heavily or not at all, the team said in the latest issue of the medical journal Plos One. 

To analyze the effect of drinking alcohol on osteoporosis, the research team looked into 3,312 postmenopausal women who took part in the 2008-2010 national nutrition survey.

The interviewees’ average age was 62.6.

Based on the analysis, the team also found that those who drink four times and more a week were 1.68 times more likely to develop weak bones.

Women with no drinking habits also had 1.7 times higher risk of lower density bones, the researchers found.

Light drinking should be associated with regular exercise and good nutrition, the researchers say.

“Besides alcohol habits of the interviewees, women who drink lightly often exercised regularly, consumed healthy nutrients good for bones and engaged in more economic activities, said Chang Hae-dong of Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital Seoul, who led the study.

People with osteoporosis, often old women, suffer weak and brittle bones that can fracture with only a small movement, bending or even coughing.

In South Korea, women in their 50s are eight times more at risk of being diagnosed with osteoporosis than women in their 40s.

Regular aerobic exercise like walking and dietary intake of vitamin D help increase the density of bones and prevent the disease later in life, experts say.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)