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Calcium Content of Foods
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If you don't want your child to be bent and weak and frail later on, give her lots of calcium now.
Calcium is very important for the body. Bone formation, cell growth and multiplication, blood clotting, muscular and heart activity, and other functions depend on it. Bone formation is one function that can go wrong today, and trouble the individual several decades later.
The absorption of calcium from the food is regulated by Vitamin D. Calcium metabolism also involves hormones in the body -- parathyroid hormone and thyrocalcitonin. A proper balance of these factors maintains proper levels of blood calcium, and allows bone formation. It is very important that children take and utilise adequate amounts of calcium.
Calcium is continuously laid down and removed from bones throughout life. During childhood, more calcium is laid down than removed. Bone mass is a measure of the amount of calcium laid down in the skeleton, and it usually peaks in late adolescence to early adulthood. After the third decade, bone is lost throughout life at the rate of about 1% per year.
It's very obvious that children must take lots of calcium in order to achieve high peak bone mass. Children who do not lay down sufficient bone during their growing years are likely to suffer from osteoporosis later on.
Osteoporosis is a condition of poor mineralisation (calcium content) of bones. The bones become fragile, and fracture easily. This metabolic disorder affects nearly one third of people over sixty. Good calcium intake during childhood has been found to be associated with a lower incidence of osteoporosis.
Most children and adolescents do not take adequate calcium. A major problem today is the wish to be thin; dieting almost always cuts out milk and milk products from the diet. Adolescent girls, particularly, have been found to take only about half of the recommended intake. This can have serious consequences in late age.
It is worth telling your teenager that skim milk contains as much calcium as fresh whole milk. If she absolutely refuses milk products, an option is calcium supplements. Tablets are available in 250 mg and 500 mg strengths, and are quite safe. The upper limit for daily calcium intake is about 2500 mg.
Last revision: July 15, 2007
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