Calcium Requirements of Infants, Children, and Adolescents

Abstract

This statement is intended to provide pediatric caregivers with advice about the nutritional needs of calcium of infants, children, and adolescents. It will review the physiology of calcium metabolism and provide a review of the data about the relationship between calcium intake and bone growth and metabolism. In particular, it will focus on the large number of recent studies that have identified a relationship between childhood calcium intake and bone mineralization and the potential relationship of these data to fractures in adolescents and the development of osteoporosis in adulthood. The specific needs of children and adolescents with eating disorders are not considered.