We've all seen those commercials sponsored by the dairy industry, showing a little guy drinking milk and growing into a strapping teen-age athlete. And more recently, we've seen commercials featuring attractive stars of the movies or the basketball court wearing white milk moustaches. Well, it turns out that in the United States, the richest nation on earth, children are not getting as much daily calcium as they need. Studies in the past 10 to 15 years have alarmed pediatricians and nutritionists. Because a huge percentage of youngsters have a diet that is inadequate in calcium, probably because children today drink more cola, juices and other beverages than they did 30 or 40 years ago.
Infants usually get plenty of calcium.
And most preschoolers and young school-age children are able to get the recommended 800 milligrams of calcium daily. Calcium is necessary, commercials tell us, for children to build strong bones and teeth. Calcium is also needed for the heart, muscles and nerves to function efficiently. We know that for many older adults, especially women past menopause, osteoporosis, or thin bones, is a very serious health problem that can lead to disabling fractures of the hip and other bones, curvature of the spine, and loss of height. Probably the only foods that are better sources of calcium are sardines with bones, and canned salmon, which includes little round, chewable vertebral bones.