Nutritional intake of pre- and postmenopausal Australian women with special reference to calcium.

Dietary factors, in particular calcium intake, have been implicated as risk factors in the aetiology of osteoporosis. In Australia there are few published data on the calcium intake of either premenopausal or postmenopausal women. The dietary intakes of calcium and 14 other nutrients were measured in 82 premenopausal and in 65 postmenopausal Caucasian women aged between 23 and 75 years. We found that 75 per cent of the postmenopausal and 61 per cent of the premenopausal women failed to meet the Australian recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for calcium of 1000 mg and 800 mg/d respectively. Moreover, 29 per cent of the postmenopausal women consumed less than 500 mg/d of calcium. Other nutrients including zinc, magnesium and iron were also deficient for many subjects. These data are relevant to the evaluation of dietary factors in the aetiology of osteoporosis.