The committee on osteoporosis of the Gezondheidsraad (Health Council) of the Netherlands judges possible preventive strategies by their ability to reduce the risk of fractures. The committee endorses the importance of life style changes related to nutrition and physical exercise. These are also important for the prevention of other health problems. The development of new health education programmes should be considered. Population screening of menopausal women is not supported, mainly because the effect of interventions on fracture risk has not been documented. Instead, the committee strongly recommends use of strategies for case finding of patients with a risk factor for osteoporosis such as oestrogen deficiency before the age of 45 years, amenorrhoea for more than a year and long term use of corticosteroids, and subsequent treatment of patients with osteoporosis. The development of broadly accepted guidelines on this subject is an important step in achieving this goal.