Whether we were breast fed or formula fed right from birth many of us started on a calcium rich diet. But over time the majority of us steer away form dairy products, in-turn calcium. Unfortunately, for many of us drifting away from calcium comes early on in life during the most critical time of our development.
Your children’s calcium intake should increase as they get older however, in most cases it decreases. According to the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs), children one to three years old should get 500 mg of calcium, four to eight years old should get 800 mg of calcium and nine to eighteen should get between about 1,100-1,300 mg of calcium.
Calcium plays an important role in your child’s long term bone health. Bone density is developed during the the early parts of your child’s life going into teenage years. This process of building bones is generally completed during the pre-adolescence, afterwards bone density begins to decrease. Failure to develop the bone density need in early stages of life can lead to osteoporosis, especially in girls. Children with calcium deficiency my developed rickets a disease that causes softening of the bones.
Calcium is an especially part of your children’s development whether they get it from dairy products dark leafy greens or fortified foods.
Resources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001400/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000344.htm
http://www.sciencedirect.com.er.lib.k-state.edu/science/article/pii/S8756328213001348