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Calcium for the Picky Eater’s Diet—A Parenting Sneak Attack
by Shelly Kramer
Calcium is an essential nutrient for people at any age, but it’s especially important for children. I will confess to having kids who don’t drink milk, rarely eat yogurt, and eat cheese sporadically. While dairy products aren’t the sole source of calcium, it’s hard to get the recommended daily amount of calcium into your kids by way of food alone. If you’re struggling with calcium for the picky eater, even more difficult. And if you’ve got a dairy free situation, that’s a whole different set of challenges.
For More on that, Read: Dairy Free Ways Moms Can Get Kids the Calcium They Need
Was that an eye opener for you? It was for me, and was something I wasn’t at all aware of until I joined the FitFormula Wellness team and started learning about the importance of calcium in people of all ages.
Even more of an attention getter was a study by the USDA sharing that among children aged 9 to 13 years, only about 12 percent of girls and 17 percent of boys consumed the recommended daily amount of calcium. For older teens, only 10 percent of girls and 42 percent of boys consumed enough calcium daily. I don’t know about you, but that was a wakeup call for me, as my tween girls are definitely in that very large group of kids not getting enough calcium daily. Add this to the list of things this slacker mom was not paying enough attention to. The good news is that unlike other things I regularly fail at as a parent, this one is easily fixed.
How Much Calcium Do Kids Need, Anyway?
Let’s back up for a minute. What many parents don’t realize is that growing kids need calcium—and in a big way. How much calcium do kids need? Take a look at this chart from the National Institutes of Health on calcium needs for kids and teens.
How to Increase Calcium for the Picky Eater
As I mentioned earlier, calcium is easy to get from dairy foods and not quite as easy to get from other foods. And if you’re trying to get calcium for the picky eater, it’s even more complicated. Some common sources of calcium include leafy greens, oranges, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, sardines, Cheerios, and canned salmon. If you need calcium for the picky eater, however, (or even just a normal kid) chances are good some of those options are no bueno from the get-go. There are other sources of absorbable calcium, largely from plants, that include the following:- Leafy greens like collards, mustard, kale, Bok choy and broccoli
- Almonds (and almond butter), pistachios, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and pecans
- Beans: Great northern, chickpeas, kidney, navy, black, edamame, adzuki