Dietary calcium and bone mineral status of children and adolescents

We studied 164 healthy, white children aged 2 to 16 years; there were 88 boys and 76 girls. By the method of single photon absorptiometry, we found that age, height, and weight correlated positively with bone mineral content of the radius bone. In the children's diet, most of those aged 2 to 11 years met the recommended dietary allowance (800 mg daily) for calcium. Children older than 11 years had low dietary calcium intake; only 15% met the recommended dietary allowance for calcium (1200 mg daily). Dietary calcium intake was associated with bone mineral status. Children ingesting more than 1000 mg of calcium daily had higher bone mineral content than those ingesting less. Almost all serum determinations of calcium, phosphate, magnesium, alkaline phosphatase, parathyroid hormone, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D were within normal limits and had no correlation with children's bone mineral status.