History of the BPABG

The idea of creating a group of UK clinicians interested in paediatric metabolic bone disease arose in the mid 1990’s when several individuals felt it would be useful to meet to discuss interesting and challenging cases. Several were exploring the use of bisphosphonates which were starting to be used in children at that time. The first meeting took place at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 1997 with subsequent meetings held there in 1998 and 1999. Key individuals attending those early meetings were: Jeremy Allgrove (London), Nick Bishop (Sheffield), Zulf Mughal (Manchester) and Nick Shaw (Birmingham) who were the core members for many years. Subsequently there was input from John Gregory (Cardiff) Faisal Ahmed (Glasgow) and Tim Cheetham (Newcastle).

The adoption of the name British Paediatric and Adolescent Bone Group (BPABG) occurred in October 1999, and the meetings were recognised for CPD by the RCPCH in 2000. The format of the meetings from this early stage consisted of topics of discussion in the morning followed by presentation of cases in the afternoon. Topics discussed in the early meetings included: Databases for bisphosphonates and bone disorders, Osteogenesis Imperfecta – Diagnosis, Investigation, Management and Steroid Induced Osteoporosis.

A key topic for discussion and collaboration from its inception was the measurement of bone density in children with several centres collecting normative bone density measurements. The group was joined by Nicola Crabtree a Clinical Scientist who had come to work in Birmingham in 1998 and Kate Ward a Research Scientist in Manchester who were keen to help interpret bone density assessments in children. This collaboration led to the development of a guideline: “A practical guide to Bone Densitometry in Children” which was published by the National Osteoporosis Society in 2004.

In April 2004 the group started to be represented at the annual RCPCH conferences as one of the speciality groups with its own programme. A subsequent development was the creation of a training programme to provide education about metabolic bone disorders in children entitled “Advanced Course in Paediatric Bone and Calcium Disorders” which was first held in Birmingham in the mid 2000’s. This led to the idea of creating a textbook with the first edition of “Calcium and Bone Disorders in Children and Adolescents” being published in 2009 by Karger. The editors were Jeremy Allgrove and Nick Shaw with chapters written by individuals who were tutors on the course. Most recently, in 2024, the BPABG became a registered charity.

Past BPABG secretaries

BPABG publications

• Bone Densitometry in children assessed by dual x ray absorptiometry: uses and pitfalls. M.S.Fewtrell on behalf of BPABG. Arch Dis Child 2003;88:795-798.
• British Paediatric and Adolescent Bone Group’s position statement on Vitamin D deficiency. Arundel P et al. BMJ 2012;345:e8182.
• Amalgamated Reference Data for Size-adjusted Bone Densitometry measurements in 3598 children and young adults – the Alphabet study. Crabtree NJ et al. J Bone Miner Res 2017;32:172-180.
• Vitamin D and Bone Health: a practical clinical guideline for patient management in children and young people. Arundel P and Shaw N. Royal Osteoporosis Society 2018.