Teens don’t need milk to meet calcium needs

June 22, 12:32 PMSeattle Vegan ExaminerVirginia Messina, MPH, RD

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Figs are a fun portable source of calcium

Do teens need more milk? That’s what a group of researchers said in a study published today in the Journal of Nutrition Education. They looked at dairy and calcium intake among more than 1,500  teens over a five-year period. As the teens entered young adulthood, their dairy consumption and calcium intake dropped. Many subjects in this study didn’t get enough calcium.

The researchers concluded that we need strategies to get teens to drink more milk. But that would make sense only if milk and other dairy foods were the sole sources of calcium in the diet. In fact, the researchers admitted that they may have missed some important sources of calcium in their subjects’ diets such as fortified juices. 

It’s no wonder that so many Americans fall short of calcium recommendations when many health professionals still focus on dairy foods as the only reliable source of this nutrient. Those who don't like dairy or who choose an ethical vegan diet are left with little guidance. Teens, in particular, need better options since their diets are often based on snacks and meals grabbed on the run. Great choices for meeting calcium needs for teenagers include serving size cartons of fortified juices or soy or rice milk, Luna bars, baked tofu, To Go packs of hummus and crackers, and trail mix that includes almonds and roasted soy nuts. Here are more ideas for plant sources of calcium.

Everyone needs calcium, of course. But no one needs milk.