Adequate Calcium Intakes Could Reduce Lead Poisoning Risk Among Urban Children

[Guest guest]

Adequate Calcium Intakes Could Reduce Lead Poisoning Risk Among Urban

Children

July 29, 1999

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

----

ROSEMONT, Ill.--(BW HealthWire) via NewsEdge Corporation -- A diet rich in

calcium could help reduce the risk of lead poisoning - a major public health

concern for millions of urban children - say researchers from UMDNJ-New

Jersey Medical School, Newark, N.J., in a study published recently in

Environmental Health Perspectives.

Dietary calcium appears to decrease the amount of lead absorbed by young

children, which can protect them from toxic lead exposure. Health experts

are concerned that lead exposure early in life, primarily from dust due to

lead-based paints, can result in increased bone lead stores with age.

Accumulation of lead in the body has been associated with a lower I.Q. in

children, aggressive behavior in young boys, and anemia, hypertension and

kidney disease in adults.

Researchers examined dietary calcium intakes of 314 children ages 1-8 in the

Newark, N.J. area. Among them, 88 percent were from African-American

families. Nine percent were from Hispanic families. According to results, 31

percent of children ages 1-3 failed to meet calcium recommendations.

Children 4-8 years old fared even worse: 59 percent fell short of the daily

recommendation for calcium. Additionally, researchers found that nearly 49

percent of the children studied had blood lead levels at or above the

current guideline.

The data indicates that children with low dietary calcium intakes are at

risk of increased absorption of the environmental lead to which they are

inevitably exposed, as well as other problems associated with low intake of

dietary calcium, according to the researchers.

Some of the children in the study easily met their calcium recommendations,

suggesting that public health education efforts to increase calcium intake

through food may be valuable in urban populations.

" Millions of American children are continually exposed to large amounts of

lead today from exterior and interior lead-based paints, street dust and

indoor air, " says Greg , Ph.D., vice president of nutrition research

for the National Dairy Council®, Rosemont, Ill. " This study reinforces the

fact that children need to get enough calcium in their diet. Milk and Milk

Group foods are among the best dietary sources of calcium, which not only

helps build strong bones and teeth, but also may help protect children from

lead poisoning. "

The National Academy of Sciences recommends that children ages 1-3 should

consume 500 mg of calcium a day, the equivalent of three, six-ounce servings

of milk or Milk Group foods. Children ages 4-8 should get 800 mg of calcium

a day, or the equivalent of three, eight-ounce servings.

Parents can help their children meet calcium recommendations by:

- substituting milk for water in foods such as cream soups, hot

chocolate and oatmeal;

- serving chocolate milk with lunch;

- serving cut-up fruits and vegetables with yogurt or yogurt-based

dips as a snack;

- encouraging children to have a dish of yogurt or eat a bowl of

cereal with milk for breakfast;

- eating nutritiously, too -- studies show children tend to mirror

their parents' eating habits.

The National Dairy Council® was founded in 1915 and conducts nutrition

education and nutrition research programs through national, state and

regional Dairy Council organizations, on behalf of America's dairy farmers.

Source: Environmental Nutrition Perspectives, " Dietary calcium intakes of

urban children at risk of lead poisoning, " 107: 431-435, 1999.

Editor's Note: Check out nationaldairycouncil.org

If you are looking for health and nutrition research, want to request an

interview or need a copy of past bimonthly news alerts, stop by

www.nationaldairycouncil.org. Interviews also are available by calling

312-988-2494.

<<Business Wire, 07-28-99, 17:04 Eastern>>

CONTACT: Nutrition and Health News Bureau, 312/988-2494 | ndc@...