Calcium-deficient youths ignore milk's benefits

By Samantha Critchell
Associated Press

Many youths aren't drinking milk, which means they aren't getting recommended daily amounts of calcium, a nutrition expert says. Advertiser library photo

Until a certain point parents mostly have control over what their children eat, but once those kids hit a certain decision-making stage, moms and dads find themselves at the table with kids who don't want to drink milk.

This has led to a "calcium crisis," says Rachel Johnson, a professor of nutrition and associate dean at the University of Vermont.

Nine out of 10 teenage girls and seven out of 10 boys are not getting the daily recommended amount of calcium, Johnson says.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, 9-to-18-year-olds need the most calcium, 1,300 milligrams per day, which roughly equals four servings of milk. Young children, ages 1-3, are encouraged to have 500 milligrams and adults older than 50 should have 1,200 milligrams.

"I don't know how else to say this: Kids should drink milk with their meals," Johnson says.

"The best way to do this is role modeling. When moms drink milk, their kids will, too. And the moms could use it, too."

Children develop food preferences over time. If milk is offered often enough and parents are drinking it, she says, children eventually will give in.

The same goes for school. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is urging the federal government to promote putting milk vending machines in school hallways. He cites a successful "vendi-milk" program in Buffalo, N.Y.-area schools as proof that students will make healthier eating choices if given the opportunity.

Meanwhile, the National Dairy Council recently held a "Building Better Bodies" summit to encourage people ages 2 to 92 to increase their calcium intake through dairy products. A serving of cheese or yogurt has the same calcium value as an 8-ounce serving of milk. Even a slice of cheese pizza counts toward 22 percent of the recommended daily dose.

People who fail to meet calcium recommendations often are lacking other vitamins and nutrients in their diets as well, says Gregory Miller, senior vice president of nutrition and scientific affairs for the dairy council. Boosting calcium levels through foods instead of supplements likely will take care of it all, he says.

Miller says teens and tweens — youngsters between 8 and 12 — are most susceptible to calcium deficiencies because they are preoccupied with appearance and image.

Children under 2 should have whole milk and whole-milk products but after that, most children can transition to 2-percent milk and low-fat foods.

Somehow, the low-fat diet message became an "eliminate-dairy-products" message, Johnson says, but an 8-ounce serving of skim milk has only 80 calories. Sugar-filled sodas and juices are the real diet saboteurs.

In 1945, Americans drank four times more milk than soft drinks, she says, while in 1998, Americans drank twice as many soft drinks as milk.

Johnson says depriving kids of soda won't work either, but parents should offer them sparingly. A healthier and equally enticing alternative would be flavored milks, such as chocolate or strawberry, she says.

For tweens and teenagers looking to shed the little-kid image they associate with milk, Miller suggests they get their four servings of dairy from coffee-flavored milk drinks plus yogurt and cheese.

On the Web:
www.whymilk.com