Is it really that important for children to eat calcium?!


Question: I'm 12 and my mom keeps nagging at me about eating calcium. She got these chocolate things that have 500 mg of calcium per piece but I wanted to know, is this really that important? Will I be taller when I am older if I eat more calcium now? Thanks.

Answers: I'm 12 and my mom keeps nagging at me about eating calcium. She got these chocolate things that have 500 mg of calcium per piece but I wanted to know, is this really that important? Will I be taller when I am older if I eat more calcium now? Thanks.
Hi,
Osteoporosis is a condition where bones are weak, brittle and break easily. The risk of osteoporosis and fractures (breaks) in later life depends on how much bone is built when a child and how much bone is lost when an adult. One way to prevent osteoporosis and fractures in later life is to build stronger bones when young. It is thought that taking calcium may help children build stronger bones. Calcium is found in many foods or as a pill to add more calcium to the diet.
There is "gold" level evidence that calcium supplements may not help to build stronger bones in children enough to make a difference in the risk of breaking a bone.
The results of this review do not support the use of calcium supplements in healthy children.
Their is lodes of different calciums, the calciums that you find in milk is a bad source calcium still better than no calcium but the supplement give you easy digest able good calcium allays listen to your mum lol Report It

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  • hollahollister's Avatar by hollahol...
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    • of course its important! It overall helps your body with everything, it makes you stronger, helps your teeth, and makes you grow. Milk has calcium in it. LOTS of it.
    Im just taking a guess on this cause Im only 16. But what I've been taught is that you're already determined on how tall you will be because of your genetic code. Calcium doesnt make you taller only helps with bones and muscle strentgh. I guess its a least risk of having broken bones.
    But you might want to check with a doctor.
    Calcium is the most important nutrient you can put in your diet due to the fact that it controls many process that relate to growth and health of the skin and hair but other nutrients such as B vitamins and Vitamin A are almost of equal importance so they must not be disregarded and also without certain nutrients calcium cannot be assimilated either.
    I don't know that your calcium intake is connected to your height. But I can tell you she is correct that you need your full daily allowance of calcium.

    From the time my kids were a year old, they drank milk like most kids drink soft drinks. When Cameron was about 8 years old and was the 2nd smallest kid in the league, he was hurt during batting practice for machine-pitch Little League.

    The machine threw the ball, and Cameron slipped slightly. He started turning too soon, and as he moved forward with the bat, the ball hit 2 of his fingers at over 40 mph. Pinned them against the bat.

    The doc in the emergency room said by all accounts, my son should have broken at LEAST one finger. When my ex told the doc that Cameron drank milk all the time, the doc said, "well, that's the only thing that saved him having a broken finger."

    So the saying *is* true - milk, it does a body good.
    I don't know if you need to be taking the calcium supplements at your age but you should be getting lots of milk and cheese. It won't make you grow taller but if you don't get enough calcium now while your bones are building they will become weak and fragile and will break easily. The next time you go to the dr with your mother ask him if he feels you should be taking the supplements and how much milk and/or cheese you should be having every day.
    If you don't eat enough calcium you could STUNT your growth and grow into a SHORT adult. Hopefully you are consuming dairy products such as milk, cheese or yoghurt every day.


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