10/17/03

American Dietetic Association survey reveals women are well-informed about the need for calcium but almost half still don’t think they get enough

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 17, 2003

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Chicago - A new survey of women by the American Dietetic Association finds that nine in ten (89 percent) women believe calcium is important to their health, yet nearly half (45 percent) say they are not getting enough calcium in their diets. 

Low calcium consumption is a leading cause of osteoporosis, a condition of gradually weakening, brittle bones. More than 30 million Americans, mostly women, suffer from osteoporosis or osteopenia, a milder form of the condition.(Women’s Health position Paper)

“The encouraging news from the survey is that women are surprisingly well informed about the need for calcium consumption with about 90 percent agreeing that it is important,” said registered dietitian and ADA President Marianne Smith Edge. Scientific research has shown that the median intake of calcium is 625 milligrams per day compared to the recommended minimum daily intake of 1000 to 1200 milligrams. ADA’s survey found that 52 percent of women believe that the recommended daily intake is 1000 or more milligrams. For women over age fifty, the Dietary Reference Intakes is 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily.

“Regardless of age, gender or body build, women can help reduce their risk for osteoporosis with smart eating and lifestyle choices,” said Smith Edge. “Adequate calcium intake is one important factor in building healthy bones. Adequate exercise is another.” 

Women can learn more about the risk factors for poor bone health and see how they measure up by taking a simple quiz. The quiz was developed by ADA and is part of Quaker’s “Bone Up for Life” consumer nutrition education campaign. 

The survey was sponsored by an educational grant from Quaker Oatmeal Nutrition for Women and was conducted to learn the key barriers  to calcium consumption among women, and their attitudes toward calcium consumption. Consumers can learn more about Quaker’s “Bone Up for Life” campaign and find tools and tips at www.quakeroatmeal.com/NutritionForWomen.

American Dietetic Association survey’s key findings:

  • Women understand that calcium is important to their health, with 89 percent of women agreeing with this statement. However, there is some confusion and a lack of knowledge in regards to how to calculate their daily intake and with the amount of calcium a woman needs. Just over four in 10 women agree that “It’s too confusing to figure out how much calcium is in a serving of a particular food and then add everything up” (43 percent) and “I don’t know how much calcium I need” (42 percent).
  • The barriers to consuming foods with calcium appear to be low, with less than a quarter of women agreeing with “Eating or drinking milk products isn’t an option for me because I can’t tolerate (or don’t like) them” (24 percent). Nearly two-thirds of women (65 percent) disagreed with the statement “There aren’t many other foods rich in calcium besides milk products.”
  • Women strongly maintain the belief that calcium is still important when bones are done growing, with “Calcium is not that important to me now that my bones are done growing” receiving the highest disagreement score by far, with 87 percent of females not agreeing with the statement and only six percent agreeing.
  • When asked to identify the recommended daily amount of calcium (in milligrams) for women age 19-50, just over one-half of respondents (52 percent) picked 1,000 mg or more, while 19 percent picked 750 mg or less.  The amount recommended by the National Academy of Sciences is 1,000 mg for women 19-50 and 1,200 mg for women 50 and older.  Three in 10 respondents (30 percent) were not sure enough to pick an amount.
  • The survey concluded by asking the women whether they personally feel they are getting enough calcium in their diet for good bone health. 57 percent of females either felt that they did not get enough calcium (44 percent) or did not know if they get enough (13 percent).

With nearly 70,000 members, the American Dietetic Association is the nation's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals.  Headquartered in Chicago, ADA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health and well-being for all people. Visit ADA at http://www.eatright.org/.

Survey Methodology
Harris Interactive® fielded the survey from April 28-30, 2003, via its QuickQuerySM online omnibus, interviewing a nationwide sample of 1,387 U.S. adult women ages 18 and over. Data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, and race/ethnicity. Although this online sample is not a probability sample, in theory, with a probability sample of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that that the results have a statistical precision of  ± 4 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult female population had been polled with complete accuracy.