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% Calcium-Rich Foods for Kids Everyday Health MenuNewslettersSearch Kids' Health
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Medically ReviewedFor growing children and teens, getting enough calcium is crucial to building bone mass, which may help guard against osteoporosis and fractures later in life. But by age 12, fewer than 1 in 10 girls and 1 in 3 boys get adequate daily calcium: 700 mg for children ages 1 to 3; 1,000 mg for ages 4 to 8; and 1,300 mg — equal to about 4 cups of milk — for ages 9 to 18.
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Here are a dozen kid-friendly ways to get calcium into your child's daily diet.
Dairy Go-round Milk Cheese and Yogurt
"Small amounts of calcium in other foods add up," says Ellie Krieger, a registered dietitian who is a mother and an Everyday Health Healthy Eating expert. "But the real dose of calcium for most of us comes from dairy foods." A cup of cow's milk has about 300 mg of calcium, about the same as 1 cup of yogurt, 1 1/2 ounces of natural cheese, or 2 ounces of processed cheese.
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For children age 2 and older, switch to low-fat and nonfat dairy products. And when it comes to flavors, "it's better to drink plain milk," says Krieger, "but it's better to drink flavored milk than no milk."
Soy Good Calcium-Fortified Soymilk
What if your child can't or won't drink cow's milk? A variety of foods contain added calcium, including milk, cheese, and yogurt made from soybeans.
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Soymilk without added calcium contains only about 10 mg per cup, and that calcium is difficult for the body to absorb. But calcium-fortified soymilk and soy products have as much calcium as cow's milk and sometimes more.
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Use soy products as you would dairy products: Pour over cereal, pack in a lunch, or provide as a snack.
Get a Calcium Boost With Orange Juice
Fortified orange juice brims with calcium — as much as 500 mg is added to each cup.
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Calcium content varies among orange juice products, however, so read nutrition labels carefully. Keep in mind that the percentage "daily value" listed on labels is based on the needs of adults up to age 50: 1,000 mg.
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Children and teens need 500 to 1,300 mg daily, depending on age. While fortified orange juice is a great way to get calcium, Krieger also recommends fresh oranges, each of which naturally contains about 50 mg of calcium.
Toss in Some Tofu
Getting the most calcium out of tofu requires advanced label-reading skills.
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That's because tofu's calcium content depends on the way in which it was prepared. Bottom line: Tofu made with calcium sulfate contains more calcium than tofu made with magnesium chloride, or nigari.
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The beauty of preparing tofu for kids, Krieger says, is that "it tastes like whatever you put on it or sauté it in." Toss some into a stir-fry alone or with chicken, she advises, or cut your child's favorite flavored tofu into sticks for a fun finger food.
The Calcium Power of Fish Bones
The processing of canned salmon softens the bones, making them easy to digest — it's the bones that provide the calcium.
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A 3-ounce serving of pink salmon, along with the bones, provides about 180 mg of calcium — about two-thirds the amount in a cup of milk. The challenge is to make salmon bones palatable to a child.
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First, mash the salmon so the bones are less noticeable. Then, use canned salmon in fish cakes instead of crab, or add it to casseroles in place of tuna.
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Munchable Spreadable Calcium Source
Almonds, says Krieger, pack a surprisingly significant amount of calcium; a third of a cup, which Krieger calls a reasonable serving, contains about 110 mg of calcium, raw or roasted. Krieger suggests using almond butter in place of peanut butter in sandwiches for your kids, and including unsalted or low-salt almonds with dried fruit in trail-mix snacks.
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You can also toss almonds into salads, sprinkle them on breakfast oatmeal, or simply give your children a handful.
Tempting Treats With Calcium
A sweet potato provides about 55 mg of calcium, and a cup of cooked sweet potatoes about 76 mg.
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Sweet potatoes are loaded with other nutrients as well, and it's easy to enhance their calcium quotient and appeal to a child's appetite by adding cheese or yogurt. Bake a sweet potato (skin on) and top it with low-fat yogurt or grated cheddar; cut potatoes into sticks, toss in olive oil, roast in the oven, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; or boil and mash potatoes and toss with butter and cheese. (A note on yams: They are not as rich in calcium as sweet potatoes, containing only 19 mg per cup, so make sure you're serving the kids sweet potatoes, not yams, if you're trying to up their calcium intake.)
Calcium' s Better in Beans
A cup of boiled small white beans, dried, provides about 130 mg of calcium, nearly as much as half a cup of milk.
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A cup of canned white beans has about 190 mg. A cup of canned chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans, contains about 80 mg.
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Mash, or use your food processor to blend, both types of beans into dips and spreads kids will love. With chickpeas, try traditional lemon-and-garlic-infused hummus (go light on the garlic for picky kids).
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Or process white beans with roasted garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt and pepper and spread on toast.
Dip Broccoli Trees in Yogurt
By Kathleen DonnellyBroccoli contains a significant amount of calcium, but you may have a hard time persuading your child to eat 2 1/4 cups of cooked broccoli or about five raw stalks to get the calcium provided by a cup of milk.
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Yogurt, on the other hand, contains about the same amount of calcium as milk. Double up on calcium content by pairing blanched or raw broccoli "trees" with a simple dip made from yogurt mixed with herbs (chives, cilantro), spices (curry, chili powder), or fruits and vegetables (cucumber, apple).
Green Peas Please
Green peas contain about 45 mg of calcium per cup.
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But they may help improve bone health in another way: Green peas are packed with vitamin K, and some studies have shown that vitamin K supplements may increase bone mineral density and bone strength. Moreover, green peas are loaded with nutrients besides calcium.
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They're an excellent source of vitamins C and A and protein, and like broccoli, they can be combined with a dairy product to enhance their calcium dose. Try "creamed" peas made with low-fat milk, or toss some peas with pasta and a light, cheesy white sauce.
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Added Attraction Calcium-Fortified Cereals
Some ready-to-eat breakfast cereals are fortified with as much as 1,000 mg of calcium in each 1 1/3–cup serving. Add a cup of milk and your teen will get all the calcium he or she needs for the day. Fortified foods are a handy way to get vitamins and minerals into your child's diet, says Krieger.
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To add calcium to hot cereals, cook them in cow's milk or fortified soymilk instead of water.
Waffles With Calcium An Easy Breakfast
You already use frozen waffles and your kids love them. Once again, however, it pays to study nutrition labels carefully.
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Not all frozen waffles are fortified, but those that contain added calcium can provide around 100 mg of the mineral in each waffle. For extra nutritional value, Krieger suggests looking for whole-grain varieties.
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And to up the calcium count, try topping your kids' waffles with low-fat or nonfat yogurt mixed with a dollop of jam or their favorite sliced fresh fruit.
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