title: Calcium absorption in infants and small children: methods of determination and recent findings.
abstract: Determining calcium bioavailability is important in establishing dietary calcium requirements. In infants and small children, previously conducted mass balance studies have largely been replaced by stable isotope-based studies. The ability to assess calcium absorption using a relatively short 24-hour urine collection without the need for multiple blood samples or fecal collections is a major advantage to this technique. The results of these studies have demonstrated relatively small differences in calcium absorption efficiency between human milk and currently available cow milk-based infant formulas. In older children with a calcium intake typical of Western diets, calcium absorption is adequate to meet bone mineral accretion requirements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. sabrams@bcm.edu
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Abrams
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002118:Calcium / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000652:urine; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula / Q000737:chemistry; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D009751:Nutritional Requirements
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium