The effect of dairy products choice on calcium dietary intake in female university students of nutritional faculty.

BACKGROUND Dairy products provide the most important source of calcium in a typical human diet, being of particular significance to women. OBJECTIVE To determine dietary calcium intakes in a group of female students studying human nutrition at a Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW through analysing the selections made of dairy products. MATERIALS AND METHODS A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess average consumption of dairy products. Total daily calcium intakes were then estimated by adding the intakes obtained from such dairy products to an average non-dairy calcium value obtained from other foodstuffs and taken to be 250 mg. RESULTS Varied choices were made of dairy foodstuffs, with most subjects consuming milk, milk beverages, cottage cheese and rennet cheese. Calcium intakes were thus dependent on the dietary assortment of such selected dairy products made. Whenever cheeses were avoided in the diet, then low calcium intakes became more common. CONCLUSIONS When compared to dietary recommendations, calcium intakes in this group of young women were inadequately low especially for those not eating cheese and despite supposedly having sufficient knowledge through studying this subject area.