No Association between Calcium Intake and Soft Drink Consumption

No Association between Calcium Intake and Soft Drink Consumption among Children and Teens

Adequate calcium consumption during the childhood and teenage years is crucial for the development of strong bones. Some research has suggested that soft drink consumption may be displacing calcium from the diets of children and teenagers. We test this hypothesis using data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, 1994-1996, 1998 (CSFII) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, 1988-94 (NHANES).

We develop multivariate regression models with either calcium consumption in milligrams or the percent RDA of calcium as the dependent variable. The independent variables include measures for beverage consumption, servings from the major food groups, demographics, income, and television viewing. The results from NHANES show no association between soft drink consumption and calcium consumption for youths ages 12 to 16. The coefficient for regular carbonated soft drinks (RCSD) is –0.525 (n.s.), and the coefficient for diet carbonated soft drinks (DCSD) is 0.485 (n.s.). The results from CSFII show a positive association between soft drink consumption and both calcium consumption (mg) and the percent RDA of calcium for the ages 2-20.

Controlling for the other variables in the model, a 12-ounce serving of RCSD increases predicted calcium consumption by 41.5mg and predicted RDA of calcium by 3.2 percentage points. A 12-ounce serving of DCSD increases predicted calcium consumption by 31.2mg and predicted RDA of calcium by 2.8 percentage points. Taken as a whole, the results from the two surveys show that soft drinks do not reduce the calcium intake of children and teenagers.

Research was supported by an unrestricted grant from the National Soft Drink Association.