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Show Fractures may mean more bone problems Tommy and Mike were just about ab-out finished with their new tree house, the one they lovingly built with sweat, bruises, and most of dad's tools. But as Tommy reached over the edge to hang that final touch-the "No Girls Allowed" t sign-he slipped. A split second later la-ter he was on the ground. A sharp pain stabbed his arm. He immediately immedi-ately knew the arm was broken. This certainly wasn't Tommy's first broken bone. Just a few months earlier he fractured a leg when he fell off his bike. Then there was that broken finger a year before... The doctor was concerned about this pattern and asked Tommy's mother how much milk her son drank. She told him Tommy was allergic to milk and never touched dairy products. That could have been part of the problem. Calcium is necessary for developing healthy bones and maintaining good bone health throughout life. A medical study performed by researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine reported that children who take in less than the daily recommendation of 800 mg of calcium can suffer a great incidence of fractures. Even for a child not allergic to milk, getting 800 mg of dietary calcium cal-cium a day can be difficv't. Certainly, Cer-tainly, few adults reach that number. num-ber. Studies have shown the average aver-age adult takes in about 530 mg of calcium daily. Meeting the recommendation recom-mendation requires, at the minimum, mini-mum, three full cups of milk unless there are other sources of calcium. One cup of skim milk, for example, exam-ple, contains 2 mg of calcium. One cup of ice cream contains 297 mp; one egg yolk, 24 mg; one cup canned pineapple juice, 37 mg; one cup oatmeal, 22 mg; one ounce of caramel, 42 ma. In stressing the importance of calcium, most of the attention is currently focused on middle-aged and elderly women. After years of low-calcium diets, many women in this age group are prime candidates for the bone-brittling disease osteoporosis. But an estimated 2.5 million fractures and dislocations occur annually in children younger than 16. According to the Utah study, calcium-poor diets contributed contri-buted to broken bones in about 25 percent of those youngsters. For children who are calcium deficient, de-ficient, a calcium-rich diet including includ-ing dairy products is important. However, for those who are allergic aller-gic to dairy products, a calcium carbonate supplement may be recommended. re-commended. A physician should determine how much supplementation supplemen-tation is necessary. If a child is prone pro-ne to fractures, the diet should be reviewed. Added calcium might make all the difference the next time he takes a tumble. |