College students sitting down to eat in the cafeteria or going out to dinner at a restaurant on Grand River Avenue have several beverage choices, from soft drinks to milk.

What many fail to realize is how that simple decision could make all the difference in avoiding developing osteoporosis, local and campus health officials say. The disease is characterized as severe bone-deterioration, which is more common in women since their bones are naturally thinner than males.

"Over the past years, there has been a consistent increase in the consumption of soda pop and fruit-flavored beverages, with a decrease in the consumption of milk," said Gayle Coleman, the state program leader for Family and Consumer Sciences at MSU Extension offices and a registered dietitian.

"This is a major effect already showing up as a conflicting factor in preventing osteoporosis."

A recently released Stanford University study found osteoporosis diagnoses in America increased in the past decade, despite the development of treatment medication. Half a million Americans were diagnosed in 1994, with the number skyrocketing to 3.6 million in 2003.

Not eating a healthy diet consisting of vitamin D and calcium is one of many factors for the increased number of diagnoses, health officials said. calcium is needed to grow strong bones, and vitamin D helps in absorbing it.

Although calcium is commonly found in dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese, Coleman said non-dairy fans may take in their calcium from certain fish, vegetables and other foods and drinks.

"There are a lot of fortified products now like orange juice," Coleman said. "You didn't see those kinds of products on grocery shelves years ago. Just look at the nutrition labels."

An additional reason for the increase could be a lacking exercise regimen, Coleman said.

"What's beneficial is weight-bearing activity such as walking, running, weight-lifting and aerobic dance," Coleman said. "Swimming is not weight-bearing. In terms of osteoporosis, it is not as effective."

Eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly are preventive measures college students can take so they won't acquire the disease when bones become weaker as they age, health officials say.

Osteoporosis is typically diagnosed in post-menopausal women, but William Gifford, a family physician and the medical education director at the Sparrow Health Science Pavilion, said he has about three college-age patients with the disease.

He linked the diagnoses with a poor diet caused by eating disorders.

"We have a higher number of those with anorexia and bulimia, and because of the dietary habits with those diseases, their bones are weak," Gifford said.

Some suggest the increase in diagnoses could simply be attributed to an increased awareness about the disease.

"In some of the literature I've read, we're just finding more of the disease early," Gifford said. "And with the drugs developed, we can successfully treat that disease so people won't go on to suffer the consequences of hip and bone fractions."

Preventing osteoporosis isn't on the top of some college students' priorities, according to English and sociology senior Jessalyn Richter.

She said she thinks people who are her age lack calcium and vitamin D because of fad dieting and eating disorders triggered by society.

"Diseases like osteoporosis take the back seat at this age because there's so much social pressure to conform to the social standards of beauty - requiring them to be a certain body type," Richter said. "People tend to look at whether a certain food is fattening, not whether it's nutritious."