Many Older Adults Don't Get Enough Calcium

By Alison McCook

Reuters Health, October 23, 2002

Based on a nationwide survey of more than 5,000 people at least 60 years old, Dr. Bethene Ervin of the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland and her colleague found that between 70% and 87% of older people don't get enough calcium in their diet. Taking supplements allowed more people to meet calcium goals, but most continued to fall below their estimated requirements.

"They are not getting the calcium intake that is being recommended," Ervin told Reuters Health. "Even when they take supplements, nearly two thirds of the population is falling below the objectives," she added.

Nutrition and osteoporosis experts have long advocated that individuals meet recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) for calcium of 1,200 milligrams per day--preferably from food--in order to build and maintain healthy bone density. Calcium is especially important for postmenopausal women, who lose about 1% of their bone density per year. Loss of bone density can cause osteoporosis and increase the risk of fractures in the elderly.

Ervin and her colleagues presented their findings here Tuesday during the 85th Annual Meeting of the American Dietetic Association, a professional organization representing the nation's licensed nutritionists and dietitians.

The current findings are based on interviews with a nationally representative sample of more than 5,000 older adults, in which they were asked about what they ate the day before and whether they took supplements or antacids that contained calcium.

The investigators found that, along with inadequate calcium, between 35% and 45% of older adults did not get enough zinc. Almost half of the elderly said they took supplements, but only around half of the supplements they used included iron, zinc or calcium.

This finding suggests that patients do not always know if the supplements they take have what they need, Ervin told Reuters Health.

So when doctors ask the elderly about their use of supplements, "they shouldn't just automatically assume that the nutrients they are interested in are present in the supplements," Ervin suggested.

In a related study, also presented Tuesday at the ADA meeting, Robin Abourizk of the University of Connecticut in Storrs and her colleagues found that, in another sample of 217 healthy older adults, 63% of the group neither took supplements, nor did they get enough calcium in their diets.

Abourizk told Reuters Health that the adults appeared to have overall healthy diets, but the only thing they lacked were adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D, which is also needed for healthy bones.

So why isn't the message of the importance of calcium reaching the elderly? Neither of the studies evaluated that question, but Abourizk suggested that older adults may try to get enough calcium, but are overestimating the amount they consume.

Both authors suggested that doctors treating elderly patients should encourage them to get enough calcium--in whatever form--and help them determine how much they need. "I think people need to hear it from their doctor," Abourizk said.