Get Calcium Now or Pay Later
When Hall of Fame baseball player Cal Ripkin Jr. won the American League's Most Valuable Player award, he startled reporters with his unique way of celebrating. He downed a glass of milk. "The reason I don't smoke, and I drank a lot of milk growing up, was because I wanted to be an athlete," says Mr. Ripkin.
"Besides being loaded with calcium, there's nothing like milk when it's ice-cold," he adds. "Which is why I drink the recommended three glasses a day."
More children need to follow his example. "Most kids don't think a lot about the future, and calcium acts like a deposit for the future of healthy bones," says Keith Ayoob, Ed.D., R.D., an American Dietetic Association spokesman.
In a new study, teen girls showed significant increases in bone density when researchers compared 80 girls who drank extra milk to 80 girls who did not. "This is important since many don't consume one milk serving a day, when they need at least three," says Dr. Ayoob. Calcium also helps the heart, muscles and nerves.
Some teens worry the fat in milk will add weight. 'Milk does not lose calcium when the fat is removed," says Nancy Krebs, M.D., of the American Academy of Pediatrics Nutrition Committee, so give teens low-fat 1 percent milk.
If kids don't like milk's taste, add flavors or offer low-fat yogurt and calcium-fortified orange juice.
Calcium facts:
- Eight ounces of milk contains 300 milligrams of calcium.
- Eight ounces of yogurt contains 400 milligrams of calcium.
- Teens need 1,300 milligrams of calcium a day.
