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This follows a recent recommendation of the National Health and Medical Research Council to increase the recommended dietary intake of calcium for all Australian infants, children and adults.
“We’re aware that around 10 million Australians do not receive enough calcium in their daily diet for good health,” Lisa Miles, General Manager, Marketing & Innovation said.
“The decision by the nation’s leading medical research authority to increase the recommended daily intake has widened the gap between how much calcium most Australians receive – and what they should be receiving.”
Dairy products are the primary source of calcium in the national diet – essential to bone growth in young people and bone strength in older people.
The new calcium guidelines for school-age children and adults are between 1,000 mg and 1,300 mg calcium per day, depending on age and gender – about 300 mg per day higher than the previous recommended values.
Dairy Australia dietician Maree Garside said: “A glass of milk, a tub of yogurt or two slices of cheese all provide around 300mg of calcium. An easy way to follow the new advice is for adults and teens to enjoy an extra serve of dairy each day.”
Ms Garside said milk, cheese and yogurt typically provided around 50 to 65 per cent of the calcium in the Australian diet and that dairy foods contain substantial amounts of well-absorbed calcium compared with most other foods.
Dairy Farmers plans to increase its efforts to place dairy foods, rich in calcium, in the nation’s schools canteens, so that young Australians have a better chance to increase their daily calcium intake.
“Dairy Farmers believes healthy school canteens are a vital way to develop healthy eating habits in children from an early age,” Ms Miles said.
“We fully support the efforts of the School Canteen Association to ensure that all the products sold in school canteens are healthy for growing youngsters.”
The School Canteen Association has classified canteen foods green, amber or red according to their healthiness.
Dairy Farmers products which fit the green – or healthiest – category include Lite White milk, Shape, Dairy Farmers Skim, Moove, OAK and the Ski range of yoghurts.
Dairy Farmers products in the second, moderate-serve category include Coon cheese and cheese snacks and Dairy Farmers full cream milk.
Also on the menu is the new ‘Kids Selections’ range, which includes dairy snacks and milk with the importance of great tasting, nutritious choices in mind.
According to the last National Nutrition Survey, more than one in two Australian children and women fell short of the old recommended dietary intake (RDI) for calcium on the day of the survey. Older women in particular needed to be careful to consume enough calcium as almost four in five over 65 years failed to achieve the calcium RDI at the lower, previously recommended level.
“The new recommended intakes mean that even more Australian children and older people will not be receiving enough calcium for a healthy life,” Ms Miles says.
“This is a message we take very seriously, in view of the increasing incidence of osteoporosis.”
New NHMRC Recommended Dietary Intakes for calcium:
| Age (years) | New calcium RDIs (mg/day) |
|
| Children | 1-3 | 500 |
| 4-8 | 700 | |
| Boys | 9-11 | 1000 |
| 12-18 | 1300 | |
| Girls | 9-11 | 1000 |
| 12-18 | 1300 | |
| Men | 19-70 | 1000 |
| >70 | 1300 | |
| Women | 19-50 | 1000 |
| >50 | 1300 |
See also:
http://www.dairyaustralia.com.au
http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications
