Dr. Upma Shrivastav

Why it's important that your child's diet is calcium-rich

Calcium is an inevitable part of your child's diet. You cannot afford to skip it if you wish to maintain a healthy lifestyle for your child. It is recommended that children between the ages of 9 and 18 should get approximately 1300 milligrams of calcium every day. Calcium-rich diet is important for your child for a number of reasons.

Why calcium?

• Calcium helps in building strong bones and teeth for your child.
• It is important in order to ensure proper functioning of your child's muscles and nerves.
• Calcium plays a vital role in the release of such hormones and enzymes in your child's body that convert the food he eats into energy.
• It is also helpful in causing the blood to clot whenever your child gets bruised.
• Since your child is continuously growing, a calcium-rich diet ensures an adequate supply of resources that help him to develop new bones that are healthy and strong.
• A calcium-rich diet is also essential as far as other bodily functions like muscle contraction, blood vessel constriction and relaxation are concerned.

What does lack of a calcium do to your child's body?

• Lack of calcium can cause bone diseases like osteoporosis in your girl child, thus exposing her to a greater risk of weakened bones and possibility of fractures.
• If your child is a young kid and his diet lacks calcium or vitamin d, which absorbs calcium, he is exposed to the threats of the bone-softening disease called rickets. It can cause in him bowing of the legs, muscle pain and poor growth.
• Bones are living tissues that change constantly, old bones keep getting replaced by newer ones and a calcium-rich diet aids this procedure. Therefore without an adequate supply of calcium, this process would borrow minerals from existing bones, thus weakening them and exposing them to increased risks of fracture.
• Lack of calcium also increases risks of cardiovascular diseases, damaged gums, high blood pressure, ovarian and breast cancer and several other infirmities in your child in his later years.