In a calcium and bone study, researchers explained that about 35
percent of adult bone mass forms during puberty. Doctors
recruited 96 girls, average age 12, who did not get enough
calcium from diet, to take 792 mg of calcium citrate malate
dissolved in a fruit drink per day or a placebo. After 18
months, girls who had taken calcium had significantly greater
bone mineral density (BMD) throughout their entire skeleton
compared to placebo. Two years later, after stopping calcium
supplements, the girls who had taken calcium had lost the BMD
benefit. In a review of bone mineral content (BMC) studies
covering more than 3,800 children, scientists noted that kids
with the lowest calcium levels benefited the most from taking
calcium supplements and dairy products with calcium and vitamin
D. They also noted that 70 percent of boys and 90 percent of
girls do not get enough calcium to maintain strong bones. In a
bone fracture risk study, 670 men and 260 women, average age 61
and generally healthy, took 1,200 mg of calci