Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The focus of the meeting centered on the Calcium Intensive Interviews being conducted by members of project W-1003, with emphasis on data collection and analysis. The group also discussed completing the analysis of data and publications for W-191. There was a presentation on writing impact statements by Mike Harrington, Executive Director for the Western Region Agricultural Experiment Stations. Impacts of W-191 and W-1003 were discussed and the group agreed to develop a regional impact statement that will be submitted to the Western Region. To provide leadership on the various tasks associated with W-1003, four committees were established to focus on the following topics; Adult scale to develop a draft of MBQP; Analysis of Interviews; Education Strategies; and Food Frequency for Adults. The data from W-1003 will be analyzed at a single location and three states will provide cost estimates for conducting the survey analyses. A timeline was established for completing tasks during the coming year. The next meeting of W-1003 will be in late October of 2004 at the University of Minnesota.

Theme: Healthy Society

Issue: Kids calcium intake is well below the 1300 mg Adequate Intake level for calcium set by the Institute of Medicine. Recent data from the USDA‘s Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals estimated the mean calcium intake of girls aged 6-11 years to be 865 mg/day, whereas girls aged 12-19 years were consuming an average of 773 mg/day. While boys generally consume more calcium, data indicate that 6-11 year olds consume 984 mg/day and 12-19 year olds consume 1,145 mg/day, they still do not get a sufficient level of calcium. Research suggests that peak bone density can occur as early as age 16 for the hip and the early mid-twenties for other bones. Thus, during this time of maximum bone growth, the children of America are not consuming sufficient calcium to reach peak bone mass; potentially leaving them vulnerable to osteoporosis later in life.

Osteoporosis is the most readily identifiable health issue associated with inadequate calcium intake and is responsible for more than 1.5 million fractures annually. The health care costs associated with osteoporosis are estimated at $13.8 billion per year for osteoporotic-related fractures alone. One in three women and one in eight men 50 years and older will experience an osteoporotic-related fracture in their lifetime. An average of 24% of hip fracture patients 50 years and older die in the year following fracture and hip fracture is more likely than heart attack, stroke, and/or cancer to lead to functional impairment.

Resolution: In a prior project (W-191), this group worked with schools and separate focus groups of boys and girls to learn about calcium intake. Results were used to develop a food frequency and motivation/barrier questionnaire for multicultural kids to learn about kids calcium intake. Questionnaires specific to calcium in the diet had not been available for kids prior to this study. The members of W-1003 are now finding out how parents and household factors influence calcium intake in teens. Based on results, interventions will be developed to prevent osteoporosis in later life.

Jensen, J.K., Gustafson, D., Boushey, C., Auld, G., Bock, M.A., Bruhn, C., Gabel, K., Misner S.,Novotny, R., Peck, L., Read, M. (In press). Development of a food frequency questionnaire to measure calcium intake among multi-ethnic youth. Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Gabel, K., Auld G., Bock, M.A., Boushey, C., Bruhn, C., Gustafson, D., Holmes, B., Misner S., Novotny, R., Peck, L., Pelican, S., Pond-Smith, D., Read, M., Wolfe, F. (In press). Relationship of gender to motivators and barriers of drinking milk by adolescents - results from focus groups. J. Adolescent Health.

Novotny R., Boushey C., Bock M.A., Peck L., Auld, G., Bruhn, C., Gustafson, D., Gabel K., Jensen, J.K., Misner S., Read M., (2003). Calcium intake of Asian, Hispanic and White youth. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 22(1):64-70.