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Calcium Supplements May Help Teen-Aged Girls

By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 25, 2005

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Calcium supplements may help teenaged girls, not just elderly women, develop strong bones, according to an article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Doctors studied 354 girls ages 8 to 13. The girls were divided into two groups. One group received calcium supplements of about 1,000 milligrams a day and approximately two glasses of milk a day for seven years. The other group received a placebo.

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The supplement seemed to help. Girls who took the supplement developed greater bone mass throughout the study.

The difference was greater right before and after the onset of the menstruation. By the end of the study it still existed but was a bit smaller.

For example, 20 girls in the placebo group broke bones versus 9 girls in the supplement group.

So talk to your doctor about calcium supplements for you teenage daughter. We don’t know yet if they will achieve greater bone mass throughout life or whether it will help prevent osteoporosis.

But based on the latest data, calcium supplements may help lead to strong bones for teenage girls.

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