Young Women Don't Get Enough Calcium

[Guest guest]

Young Women Don't Get Enough Calcium

Download the article from the Journal of the American College of Nutrition

at http://www.jacn.org.

There's good news and bad news about Americans' intake of calcium says a new

study in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of

Nutrition.

The good news is, that after years of decline in calcium consumption, the

drop has not only leveled off, calcium intake is actually going up in some

groups.

The bad news is that teenage girls and young women, especially African

Americans, are not getting enough calcium at the time in their lives when

calcium is most critical to building bone density.

" The start of adolescence to about age 30 is the most important time to get

enough calcium, " says the study's lead author, Forshee, of the

University of land's Center for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture Policy

(CFNAP). " It's that small window of time when they build the bone density

that can help prevent osteoporosis in later years. "

" These results tell us that we should look at what calcium fortification and

supplements can do to increase calcium intake during this critical time, "

says Maureen Storey, a study co-author and director of CFNAP.

The Study

The study examined changes in calcium intake and its association with milk

and other beverage consumption over a 10-year period. Other studies have

suggested a connection between soda consumption and reduced intake of some

nutrients, including calcium.

Using data from 24-hour dietary recalls taken between 1994 and 2002 in the

Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals and the National Health and

Nutrition Examination Survey, the researchers analyzed data on calcium

intake for different age-gender categories.

They found that while non-diet soft drink consumption increased, calcium

intake was either unaffected or increased for some groups. Milk consumption

declined in some groups, but stayed the same or increased in others. The

study's key findings include:

* Calcium intake increased for most age-gender categories, including

adolescent females. Despite the increase, calcium intake is well below the

recommended levels for adolescent and young adult women. The Adequate Intake

for calcium is 1,300 milligrams per day for 9-18-year-old females, but the

study found the group's average consumption was only 814 milligrams per day.

The problem is especially serious among African-American females.

* Average regular carbonated soft drink (RCSD) consumption increased in most

age-gender categories, with the highest consumption being in the

20-39-year-old category.

* Soft drink consumption was not associated with lower calcium intake,

except for a small association among females 40-59 years old. Fluid milk was

the only variable that had a strong association with calcium intake.

* Average milk consumption decreased in the 6-11-year-old age category, but

was unchanged or higher in the other age-gender categories. Many categories

that showed increased average RCSD consumption had no change in average milk

consumption.

* Females 40-59 years, the only category to have a significant increase in

average milk consumption, also had a significant increase in average RCSD

consumption.

Recommendations

" Consumption of low-fat milk and dairy products should continue to be

encouraged, " says Forshee. " And it is time to seriously consider carefully

targeted calcium fortification programs and calcium supplementation to help

adolescent and young females meet their recommended calcium intake levels. "

" Changing diet and eating behavior is very difficult. We need to develop

strategies for getting more calcium into the diet, especially of the very

vulnerable population of young women, " said Maureen Storey.

A. , of CFNAP, was also a member of the research team. The

study was funded by an unrestricted grant from the American Beverage

Association.