Getting Enough Calcium

Recommended Daily Levels of Calcium
Age Group	1997 Adequate Intake Values (mg)	How many 8 oz glasses of milk?
1-3 years	500	At least 2
4-8 years	800	3
9-13 years	1,300	4 1/2
14-18 years	1,300	4 1/2
Pregnant teens	1,300	4 1/2
Recommendations based on the Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, National Academy of Sciences, 1997.

Most food labels don't list calcium in mg like you see on this table. They use % of daily value (DV) instead. To make sure that your child or teen is getting enough calcium, make sure their %DV adds up to 130%. Milk is an easy and good source of calcium. One 8-ounce serving of milk has 300 mg of calcium. But calcium can also come from other foods like cheese and yogurt.

Borrowed in part from the National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Child Health and Development, Milk Matters. Accessed February 9, 2005 at: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/milk/whycal/howmuch_cal.cfm.