Green Goddess Diana Moran has revealed her shock at being diagnosed with osteopenia despite a lifetime of exercise.

The fitness guru was 74 when she was given the news she had low bone density and had lost two inches of height.

Osteopenia can be a precursor to osteoporosis but not always, and Diana has avoided this so far after focusing on staying active and eating well.

The former 1980s BBC Breakfast Time exercise queen – who got her nickname due to the trademark green leotard she wore – even wrote a book called Bone Boosters to help others live well.

The 85-year-old, who is an ambassador for the Royal Osteoporosis Society, saw her father Frederick struggle after being diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a chronic condition that affects the bones in the spine and joints.

She credits this for giving her a passion for bone health and feels it deserves more attention.

“When I was diagnosed I was fed up because I thought that with all the exercise I had done and also because I ate pretty healthily, it would never happen to me,” Diana said.

“But as we all know, these things are genetic as well as anything else, and perhaps because of my father, and the problems he had, perhaps it was in the family.

“I think I avoided it because I’ve always been an active person but, as you get older, you’re not as active.

“But I love gardening. I like walking and, fortunately, I’m able to walk perfectly well, so that, as you know, is natural weight-bearing exercise.”

She added: “So far, so good for me. I’m very conscious of what I’m eating. And every day, without fail, I take calcium and vitamin D, which you need in this country.

“I have my aches and pains. Any 85-year-old has a few aches and pains but I’m very aware of my body, and my bones in particular.”

Diana backs the Sunday Express Better Bones campaign, in conjunction with the ROS, which called for an end to a postcode lottery in England for specialist bone fracture clinics, called Fracture Liaison Services.

Delivering FLS across the whole of England could prevent 74,000 fractures over five years, by diagnosing people early and offering treatment.

Our latest campaign, Better Bones for Life, which Diana also supports, aims to encourage 100,000 people to check their chances of getting the condition with the ROS’s online risk checker.

“This is such an under-served illness,” Diana said.

“I think it was ignorance for a long time. People thought, ‘Oh, it’s just getting older’, and accepted it. But it is preventable. There’s still a lot we don’t know about it.

“It is devastating to people’s lives. When my father got ill, I saw him shrinking and that really upset me. Bone health is so important. Your body and your health have to be the number one priority.”

● To try the risk checker, visit theros.org.uk/risk-checker. You can donate to the ROS at theros.org.uk/donation/