How babies absorb calcium could be key to treating osteoporosis in seniors New research reveals the mechanism that allows breastfeeding babies to absorb large amounts of calcium and build healthy bones -- a discovery that could lead to treatment for osteoporosis and other bone diseases later in life. "We build our bone mineral density until we're early adults and then stop, so we think of osteoporosis as a disease of the elderly," said Megan Beggs, a pediatric dietitian and PhD candidate in physiology at the University of Alberta who led the study.