Low dietary calcium in European postmenopausal osteoporotic women

Objective The WHO recommends a daily Ca intake for postmenopausal women of 1300 mg. The objective of the present study was to assess the dietary Ca intake in European postmenopausal osteoporotic women.

Design, setting and subjects Assessment of dietary Ca intake (food and supplements) was performed with a validated self-questionnaire in 8524 osteoporotic women from nine European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK).

Results Mean age of the patients was 74·2 (sd 7·1) years, mean BMI was 25·7 (sd 4·2) kg/m2. Of the study population, 37·2 % of the women took Ca supplements. The mean dietary intake of Ca was 930·7 (sd 422·9) mg/d. The lowest Ca intake was found in Hungary (586·7 (sd 319·1) mg/d) and the highest in Denmark (1145·6 (sd 463·0) mg/d). In the whole study population, only 19·1 % of the women had a dietary Ca intake >1300 mg/d. Only 17·1 % of women aged over 75 years achieved 1300 mg/d compared with 20·5 % of women aged less than 75 years (P = 0·0001 for the difference between the two groups).

Conclusion Dietary intake of Ca is very low in European postmenopausal women. A greater awareness is needed to resolve this public health problem.