Discover Dairy
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Quick Facts
- Calcium is essential for the development of strong bones (and teeth).
- The Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for calcium is between 500 and 1300 milligrams per day, depending on your age and whether you are a boy or a girl. To reach their RDI of calcium, most children need to eat or drink three serves of dairy every day.
- More than half of all Australian children are not getting enough calcium in their daily diet to achieve their RDI.
- One serve of dairy is equal to one small piece, or two slices, of cheese (40g), or one tub of yogurt (200g), or one glass of milk (250ml).
- Dairy foods, such as milk, cheese and yogurt, provide a huge package of bone-building and strengthening nutrients. Dairy contains calcium, protein, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and zinc, all of which have been shown to be great for building unbeatable bones.
- Calcium is the most common mineral in your body. About 99% of your calcium is found in your bones and teeth. Calcium is the main building block of your bones.
- Your skeleton is living tissue which acts like a storage tank for calcium. Your body loses calcium every day through shedding skin, hair and nails, sweat, urine and losses from the stomach and intestines. That's why you should have calcium in your diet every day.
- The amount of calcium the body requires every day varies throughout life. Your body has its greatest need for calcium during the times when it is growing rapidly (such as when you are a child and a teenager). Your body also needs extra calcium in your later adult years, because you lose bone density as you get older.
- Your skeleton becomes about seven times bigger from the time you are born to the time you become a teenager. When you become a teenager you need even more calcium, because this is the time when you are gaining the most bone mass.
- The strength of your bones is measured as your 'bone mineral density'. You might see this written as BMD. Peak bone mass means the maximum size and mineral density your bones can reach, and is when your bones are at their strongest.
- Milk, cheese and yogurt are the richest and best sources of calcium in the Australian diet.