Calcium and Kids | Dr. Sam

Bone Mass, Bone Loss

Under age 18 is the critical time when kids can build bone mass to help avoid bone loss in adulthood, which can lead to osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is more likely to develop if you did not reach optimal peak bone mass during your bone-building years, according to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Milk Matters

The government group considers calcium to be so critical to our health that it has developed a nationwide campaign to increase teen's and children's milk consumption called "Milk Matters."

The Milk Matters campaign encourages children and teens to consume a variety of foods with calcium - especially milk, the preferred choice for calcium. According to NICHD, the milk can be low-fat, fat free, or even chocolate milk; it still contains about 300 mg. calcium per 8 oz. glass. Other dairy products are also encouraged, as are green leafy vegetables and foods with added calcium.

Calcium Recommendations

What kids should do:

Eat and drink lots of food with calcium - particularly milk - to build strong bones
Get plenty of exercise

Calcium needs grow with the child. During their pre-teen and teenage years, their bones are growing so fast that they require lots of calcium, around 1,300 mg. per day.

However, most kids and teens are not getting the recommended amounts, including:

44 percent of boys and 58 percent of girls ages 6 to 11
64 percent of boys and 87 percent of girls ages 12 to 19

The chart below shows how much calcium is recommended for different age groups.

Age group calcium needs in milligrams (mg.)
Birth to 6 months	210
6-12 months	270
1-3 years	500
4-8 years	800
9-13 years	1,300
14 - 18 years	1,000
18 Pregnant or Lactating teens	1,300

Food labels

Most food labels list calcium as a % of daily value (DV) so to make sure that your children are getting enough calcium, make sure their % DV adds up to 130%.

Source: the Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, National Academy of Sciences, 1997