Dietary sources of calcium and the contribution of flour fortification to total calcium intake in the diets of Northumbrian adolescents

Increased Ca intake by adolescents is desirable, In order to achieve this, information on the current dietary sources of Ca by this age group is essential to enable change to build on existing habits. This paper addresses two issues: first, the dietary sources of Ca for adolescents are reported and, second, the importance of fortification of flour with Ca to present-day Ca intakes was determined. In 1990 the diets of 379 children aged 12 years were assessed using the 3d dietary diary and interview method, Computerized food tables were used to calculate the contributions of different food groups to total Ca intake. The Ca content of each food was subdivided into naturally occurring Ca and Ca from fortification, and data were analysed to give the daily intake of each, The four most important sources of Ca were milk (25%), beverages (12%), puddings (10%) and bread (9%). Fortification of flour accounted for 13% of total Ca intake, When the contribution of fortification was removed, the proportion of subjects with intakes of Ca below the lower reference nutrient intake (Department of Health, 1991) increased more than fourfold, to 10% of girls and 12 % of boys. Milk is contributing less to Ca intake than in the past and increased consumption should be encouraged, Ca fortification of flour remains an important source of Ca. Therefore, unless dietary habits are modified to ensure adequate Ca from other sources, increased consumption of unfortified products from outside the UK will lead to a further reduction in Ca intake.