There was no effect of calcium supplementation  on femoral neck or lumbar spine BMD .
There was no evidence of effect modification by baseline calcium intake , sex , ethnicity , physical activity or pubertal stage .
While there is a small effect of calcium supplementation in the upper limb , the increase in BMD which results is unlikely to result in a clinical ly significant decrease in fracture risk .
The results do not support the use of calcium supplementation  in healthy children as a public health intervention .
These results can not be extrapolated to children with medical conditions affecting bone metabolism
BACKGROUND Clinical trials have shown that  calcium supplementation in children can increase  bone mineral density ( BMD ) although this effect may not be maintained .
There has been no quantitative systematic review of this intervention .
To determine the effectiveness of calcium supplementation for improving BMD  in children .
.
To determine if any effect varies by sex , pubertal stage , ethnicity or level of physical activity , and if any effect persists after supplementation is ceased .
Longitudinal study of calcium intake, physical activity, and bone mineral content in infants 6-18 months of age.
Although increased physical activity early in life is recommended for optimizing bone health , no controlled trials on the effect of activity on bone mass accretion during periods of rapid growth have been reported . The purpose of this study was to determine whether infants r and omized to a 1 year gross motor activity program  had a greater bone mass accretion than infants r and omized to a fine motor activity program .  The gross motor program included activities that focused on loading the skeleton and were performed for 15 - 20 minutes/day , 5 days/week by study personnel . Infants ( n = 72 ) were enrolled at 6 months of age , and total body bone mineral content ( BMC ) , 3-day diet records , and activity levels were obtained at 6 , 9 , 12 , 15 , and 18 months . BMC was associated with weight , length , and bone area at all ages and correlated with earlier calcium intakes . Calcium intake appeared to modify the effect of  gross motor activity  on bone mass accretion ; infants in both groups had similar bone accretion at moderately high calcium intakes , but at low calcium intakes infants in the gross motor program had less bone accretion than infants in the fine motor program . Compliant infants in the gross motor group had lower BMC at 18 months compared with noncompliant infants . These results indicate that BMC in infants is related to calcium intake , and we speculate that participation in a gross motor program during rapid bone growth may lead to reduced bone accretion in the presence of a moderate to moderately low calcium intake
There was no effect of calcium supplementation  on femoral neck or lumbar spine BMD .
There was no evidence of effect modification by baseline calcium intake , sex , ethnicity , physical activity or pubertal stage .
While there is a small effect of calcium supplementation in the upper limb , the increase in BMD which results is unlikely to result in a clinical ly significant decrease in fracture risk .
The results do not support the use of calcium supplementation  in healthy children as a public health intervention .
These results can not be extrapolated to children with medical conditions affecting bone metabolism
BACKGROUND Clinical trials have shown that  calcium supplementation in children can increase  bone mineral density ( BMD ) although this effect may not be maintained .
There has been no quantitative systematic review of this intervention .
To determine the effectiveness of calcium supplementation for improving BMD  in children .
.
To determine if any effect varies by sex , pubertal stage , ethnicity or level of physical activity , and if any effect persists after supplementation is ceased .