New York ? Routine screening for osteoporosis should include all younger postmenopausal women who have at least the same chance of a bone break as an older woman, a government task force said Monday.

Also, for the first time, the group weighed whether men should be checked for the bone-thinning disease, but it decided there wasn’t enough evidence to recommend for or against the screening.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s draft guidelines widen its 2002 advice, when it first said that all women over 65, plus those 60 to 64 at higher risk for fractures, should get a bone density test.

The task force now says all younger postmenopausal women should get checked if their risk of a broken bone is the same or greater than the average 65-year-old woman. Factors that can increase risk include low weight, certain drugs, smoking, heavy alcohol use and a parent who broke a hip.

In a break from previous practice, the independent, government-appointed panel posted a draft of the guidelines online Monday to allow for public comment. The task force had been considering the move, but the reaction to its controversial mammogram guidelines last fall spurred the group to open the process earlier, said Dr. Ned Calonge, head of the panel.

Also Monday, the Annals of Internal Medicine published a review done for the task force of the latest research on screening methods, bone-building drugs and tools to calculate one’s risk of low bone density and fractures.