Study: Improve Your Kids' Bones By Including Enough Calcium

Calcium plays an important part in daily diet, especially for children as it is a key building block for strong and healthy bones but still many children do not get required amount of calcium in their diet. A new American study found that by increasing the calcium content in kids' diet at any point of time can significantly increase their bone density.

More than 60 percent of boys and 85 percent of girls’ ages 9 to 18 in United States fail to get the recommended 1,300 milligrams of calcium daily, daily calcium recommendation issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Severe calcium deficiency can result in diseases like rickets in children and osteoporosis later in life.

The team of researchers lead by Michael Huncharek, MD, MPH, Director of the Meta-Analysis Research Group analyzed the data from the 21 clinical trails which involved more than 3,800 kids to find out how the diet rich in calcium affects bone mineral content (BMC), a common measure of bone strength, in children.

The children who were involved in the study were divided into two groups:

1) Kids who were having adequate amount of calcium rich diet before starting of study.

2) Children who had inadequate calcium consumption prior to study.

The study, which appears in the August issue of the journal 'Bone,' found that those children who had inadequate calicum consumption prior to the start of the studies, meeting the calcium recommendations will actually help in reducing the risk of osteoporosis in themn during years. More importantly, the study reveals that the presence of a calcium threshold for bone health, that is, the level of calcium intake that triggers a significant effect.

Michael Huncharek said, "Dairy and other foods that are rich in calcium are thought to be important for the growth and strengthening of bones in children and adolescents.

Adding further he said, "In the US, dairy products tend to be the preferred source of calcium since diets that exclude dairy are often deficient in this important nutrient."

"The new findings show that for those children who have inadequate calcium intake, increasing dietary calcium has a significant impact on bone development.

"Since most children don't get enough calcium, meeting calcium recommendations may help to prevent future osteoporosis," he said.

Calcium is the most common mineral in the body and nearly 99% of the calcium in the body is found in the bones or skeleton; the rest is in teeth, soft tissues and blood. If an individual has diet constantly low in calcium than his body will eventually remove so much calcium from the skeleton that the bones will become weak and brittle.

Children who do not consume adequate amount of calcium in childhood has higher risk of developing osteoporosis later in life, condition which leads to fragile bones and an increased risk of fractures.

The American Dairy Association and Dairy Council recommends that drinking milk and other dairy foods provide nearly 73% of the calcium available in the country’s food supply and are the major dietary source of calcium for American children.

According to the USDA’s 2005 Dietary Guidelines children and adolescents must have at least three servings a day of low-fat or fat-free dairy foods.

Children should get calcium from eating dairy foods and having a well balanced diet. Foods that are good sources of calcium are low fat plain yogurt, american cheese, cow's milk (either whole milk or low fat milk) or goat's milk, calcium fortified soy milk, almonds, cheddar cheese, dried figs, orange juice, dark green leafy vegetables (spinach, broccoli), sweet potatoes, tofu, lentils, sardines and salmon.

Along with calcium, Vitamin D is important for calcium absorption. It is made by the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight, vitamin D is also found in fish, egg yolks and fortified foods.

In year 2007, a study conducted by the researchers at the University of Tasmania found that boosting the calcium intake of children by supplements doesn't seem to make a significant difference to the density of children's bones.