09/02/2026
The strongest single study on vegan bone density is EPIC-Oxford: ~55,000 people followed for an average of 17–18 years, with fractures identified from hospital records. After adjustment for socioeconomic factors, lifestyle, and BMI:
• Vegans vs meat-eaters: 43% higher risk of any fracture (HR 1.43)
• Hip fracture: more than double the risk (HR 2.31)
• Also elevated risk of leg and “other main site” fractures (vertebra, rib, clavicle)
In absolute terms, that was about 15 extra hip fractures per 1,000 vegans over 10 years compared with meat-eaters.
Vegetarians and pescatarians had a smaller but still elevated hip-fracture risk (HR ~1.25).
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis pooling four large cohorts (~530,000 people) found:
• Vegetarians: +25% hip-fracture risk
• Vegans: +75% hip-fracture risk
(certainty rated low to very low because the data are observational).
The Adventist Health Study 2 found female vegans had a 55% higher hip-fracture risk than non-vegetarians — unless they took both calcium and vitamin D supplements, in which case the excess risk disappeared.
Personally I would be extremely skeptical of the Adventist study.
