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free tools for patients, expert nutrition advice and information on updated
dairy nutrition resources.
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Educate your patients on the importance of 3-A-Day of Dairy: Here's
a great
tool (PDF: 618k) to show families how to get their 3-A-Day of Dairy
every day for stronger bones.
Developed in conjunction with The American Academy of Family
Physicians, The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Dietetic
Association, and The National Medical Association.
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Dairy Council Digest Archives
Special Dietary Needs of Mature Americans
Minerals
For all adults ages 51 years and over, the DRI for calcium is 1,200mg/day (14)—400mg/day more than previously recommended for older adults (28) and 200mg/day higher than for adults 31 through 50 years (14). Age-related physiological and lifestyle changes in later years influence mature adults' need for calcium and their calcium status (14,48,49). The age-related decline in the body's ability to absorb calcium and low vitamin D status which reduces calcium absorption help to explain the higher calcium recommendations for mature adults (14).
Unfortunately, many older adults consume calcium intakes well below recommended levels (17–19,21). Only about 13 percent of males 60 years of age and older and 4 percent of similar-aged females consume 100 percent of the calcium recommendation of 1,200mg/day, according to data from the 1994–96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes (21). Low intake of dairy foods, the major dietary source of calcium, contributes to many older adults' low calcium intake (21,50). Inadequate calcium intake increases older adults' risk for osteoporosis, as well as other diseases such as hypertension and colon cancer (14,51,52).
"Increasing older adults' intake of dietary calcium to at least 1,200mg/day and vitamin D intake to at least recommended levels (10µg/day for 51–70 year olds and 15mg/day for adults >70 years) lowers their risk of bone mineral loss and osteoporotic fractures".
Numerous studies indicate that increasing older adults' calcium intake reduces their bone loss and risk of fractures (37–39,53–56). When older women with prior vertebral fractures consumed 1,200mg calcium/day in addition to their usual calcium intake of <500mg/day, femoral bone loss and vertebral fracture incidence decreased (54). The women who were not treated with calcium were 2.8 times more likely to experience another fracture than the women who increased their calcium intake (54).
These recent studies support a calcium intake of at least the DRI of 1,200mg/day (14) and closer to an optimal intake of 1,500mg calcium/day for older adults as recommended by an advisory group of the National Institutes of Health (51) and supported by the American Medical Association (57). Increasing calcium intake through foods (e.g., dairy foods) significantly improves overall nutrient intake (58). Milk and other dairy foods are an economical source of calcium, phosphorus, protein, and, if fortified, vitamin D—nutrients often lacking in older adults' diets (48).
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