As your toddler gets older, he or she might stop requesting for milk. And that’s fine because children can get calcium and other nutrients from the food they eat. However, if you haven’t been keeping an eye on how much calcium your kid is consuming, it’s not too late to start now. To increase calcium intake for kids, you can begin by looking at the foods that your kid enjoys.
If nothing much points towards calcium, then start working on adding it into their diets. Calcium is particularly important. That’s because when kids get enough calcium, they can start out their adult lives with the strongest bones possible. An adequate amount of calcium will also protect them against bone loss later in life.
According to the Ministry of Health in Singapore, these are the recommended amount of calcium we need:
| Age Groups | RDA for Calcium |
|---|---|
| Infants (0 – 6 months, breast-fed) | 300mg |
| Infants (0 – 6 months, formula-fed) | 400mg |
| Infants (7 – less than 12 months) | 400mg |
| Children (1 – 3 years) | 500mg |
| Children (4 – 6 years) | 600mg |
| Children (7 – 9 years) | 700mg |
| Adolescents (10 – 18 years) | 1,000mg |
| Adults (19 – 50 years) | 800mg |
| Adults (51 years and above) | 1,000mg |
| Breastfeeding / pregnant | 1,000mg |
If your child doesn’t fancy milk very much, here are different ways, including milk alternatives, to increase calcium intake for your kids every day.