Calcium intakes among Australian women: Geelong osteoporosis study

Abstract

Background: Dietary calcium deficiency may be a risk factor for osteoporosis. Aims: To estimate habitual calcium intakes and prevalence of calcium supplementation among free-living Australian women and validate a calcium-specific food-frequency questionnaire. Methods: Calcium intakes for 1045 randomly selected women (20-92 years) were estimated by questionnaire which was tested against estimates from four day weighed records kept by 32 randomly selected women. Results: The mean difference between calcium estimates was not statistically significantly different from zero (mean difference=121 mg; standard deviation of differences=357 mg; p>0.05). There was moderate agreement (weighted κ=0.4) be..