MINNEAPOLIS, May 15, 2002 - Americans aren't consuming the calcium they need, and as a result, osteoporosis and low bone mass are a major public health risk for more than half (55%) of the U.S. population aged 50 and older, according to the America's Bone Health: The State of Osteoporosis and Low Bone Mass in our Nation, released in February by the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF).

While calcium alone cannot prevent or cure osteoporosis, it plays an important role in both prevention and treatment. Nearly 99 percent of the calcium in the body is located in your bones and teeth. If you don't eat enough calcium, the body adjusts to the shortage by withdrawing calcium from the bones, which can result in osteoporosis, or porous bones. Eight million American women and 2 million men are estimated to have osteoporosis and an estimated 34 million more have low bone density, according to the NOF.

The recommended calcium intake is 1,000 mg for adults. Women typically consume about 600 mg of calcium per day and men consume a little more than 700 mg per day, according to a Dietary Intake Research Study conducted by the Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition.

One way to increase the amount of calcium in your diet is to eat calcium-rich foods, like yogurt, low-fat milk and cheese. The chart below shows the calcium content of selected dairy foods. Consuming three or four servings of these dairy foods can help you get the calcium your body needs.

Selected Dairy Item	Calcium Content
1 cup of skim milk	300 mg
1 6 oz. container of Yoplait® yogurt	200-300 mg
1 ounce cheese	150-225 mg
½ cup lowfat cottage cheese	75 mg
¼ cup part-skim ricotta cheese	160 mg
½ cup ice cream or ice milk	100 mg

back