Back to Menu

CALCIUM DOES MORE THAN CREATE STRONG BONES;
IT MAY PREVENT LEAD POISONING IN YOUNG CHILDREN

(July 2001)

Lead blood levels have decreased dramatically in the United States over the last thirty years. Severe lead poisoning used to be a daily occurrence; now it occurs rarely. That is the good news. The bad news is that over the last fifteen years, evidence has accumulated that shows that increases in body lead burdens that are far below the amount needed to produce clinical lead poisoning can have terrible effects on the brains of young people resulting in:

reduced intelligence;
difficulties in school;
reduced academic achievement;
lessened attention spans;
slower reaction times;
increased school dropout rates; and
anti-social or aggressive behaviors.

Any blood lead level over 10 micrograms can produce those very undesirable effects. At present, about one million children in the United States have blood lead levels over 10 micrograms - about 5 percent of whites, but 20 percent of African-American young children. In inner cities, the situation is much worse - 20 to more than 50 percent of children ages 1 to 5 years have unacceptably high blood lead concentrations.

Although we got lead out of gasoline and paints, it is still present in the environment, particularly in soil and in the paint of houses built before 1950. Young children get it on their hands, and it goes from there into their mouths and then gets swallowed.

For modest, but nevertheless dangerous, increases in blood lead levels, there is no established drug treatment. We do have proven treatment for those with very high blood lead levels; the medications are given by injection and can have very unpleasant side effects.

If we have no proven, easy to administer (by mouth), and non-toxic drug for mild to moderately increased blood lead levels, then the best hope we have is prevention. Because we cannot get rid of all the lead in our environment, the best approach is to stop its absorption from the intestinal tract into the blood. We probably can go a long way towards doing that in children by making sure they get enough calcium in their diets.

The evidence in experimental animals is very impressive. Most of the studies in children and adults are supportive - the more calcium in the diet, the lower the blood lead levels and the lower the body lead burdens. The calcium reduces the absorption of lead from the intestinal tract into the blood stream.

Yet, studies show that a significant percentage of children ages 1 to 8 do not get enough calcium in their daily diets. In one study recently published from Newark, New Jersey, 50 percent of children ages 1 to 8 got inadequate amounts of calcium each day; and in that city, 50 percent of the African-American children studied had blood lead levels over 10 micrograms.

The message is clear - very clear.

A good calcium intake is needed by young children to build strong bones and, at the same time, it could prevent the increased lead levels that can lead to academic difficulties and perhaps to antisocial behavior. The evidence about lead is not yet totally proved, but there is a lot of supporting evidence, and the calcium is needed anyway to build strong bones. How much calcium is needed? For 4 to 8 year olds, the recommended intake is 800 milligrams. For I to 3 year olds, the new recommendation is for 500 milligrams, but that recommendation is based on some sort of extrapolation; many experts believe it makes no sense and that 1 to 3 year olds should also get 800 milligrams a day. That is also our belief.

Getting 800 milligrams of calcium a day is no big deal. Three glasses of milk will give more than that. Some cereals are now fortified with good amounts of calcium. So are some orange juices and grapefruit juices. Other foods and beverages will soon add significant amounts of calcium.

CLICK HERE for tables of high calcium foods and beverages; there are two lists - one includes dairy products, and the other is for children who are lactose intolerant or milk allergic and cannot drink milk or milk products.

Parents must learn to read labels to see the calcium content of the food or beverage. For example, some cereals contain as much calcium as a glass of milk, others have no added calcium.

An adequate calcium intake for young children should be a national public health priority. That requires an education campaign directed to mothers of young children, especially those who live in the cities where the problem is the greatest.

The goal is simple - get calcium in and keep lead out. Of course, we should also continue to try to minimize the amount of lead in the environment. Because a high calcium diet can also be high in calories, parents should select low calorie foods and beverages (for example, low fat or skim milk), and should encourage exercise to burn off unneeded calories.