Calcium plays an important role in muscle contraction, blood clotting, and bone health. When your diet provides enough calcium, your body deposits it in your bones, where it rebuilds and strengthens bone tissue. Bone formation starts in childhood, increases during adolescence, and continues until about age 25. After 25, your daily calcium intake helps maintain bone health. If calcium levels in the body drop below normal, calcium will be taken from bones and put into the blood to be used for other body functions. That's why it's important at all ages to consume enough calcium to maintain adequate levels in the body.

Nearly half of U.S. children and adults do not eat enough calcium, and more than 80 percent of women in Maricopa County get less than the daily recommended levels of calcium. The National Academy of Sciences recommended the following amounts of calcium per day for various ages in 1997.

The National Institute of Health Consensus conference and Then National Osteoporosis Foundation support a higher calcium intake of 1,500 milligrams per day for postmenopausal women not taking estrogen and adults 65 years or older

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