Protecting your bone health is easier than you think. Understand how diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors can affect your bone mass. By Mayo Clinic staff Bones play many roles in the body — providing structure, protecting organs, anchoring muscles and storing calcium. While it’s particularly important to take steps to build strong and healthy bones during childhood and adolescence, you can take steps during adulthood to protect bone health, too. Why is bone health important? Your bones are continuously changing — new bone is made and old bone is broken down. When you’re young, your body makes new bone faster than it breaks