3 Serves a Day
We all know the importance of a healthy diet but many Australians don't know they are falling behind in requirements for key nutrients.
Adults may remember dairy is important for children but neglect their own dairy intake. Not only do your bones need calcium to maintain strength throughout your life, but research also shows children are much more likely to consume adequate amounts of dairy foods each day if their parents set a good example by doing the same.
Dairy is an important food group, not only because it is packed with calcium, but because it also provides a range of other important nutrients including vitamin A, riboflavin, zinc, protein and magnesium.
Eating 3 serves of dairy every day as part of a healthy, balanced diet will provide most people with their average daily requirements for calcium.
There are a wide variety of options in the dairy case to suit everyone including regular, reduced-fat, low-fat and skim varieties as well as calcium-enriched products.
One serve of dairy is equal to:
- 1 glass (250ml) of milk
- 1 tub (200g) of yogurt
- 2 slices (40g) of cheese
Scroll down or follow these links for more information:
How Many Dairy Serves Do You Need?
The table shows the approximate number of serves of dairy food needed each day to help ensure you meet your Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for calcium throughout your life, plus a significant amount of many other essential nutrients.
| Age | RDI for calcium (mg) | No. of serves of dairy |
|---|
Children |
1-3 years |
500 |
 |
|
4-8 years |
700 |
|
Boys |
9-11years |
1000 |
|
|
12-13 years |
1300 * |
* |
|
14-18 years |
1300 * |
* |
Girls |
9-11 years |
1000 |
|
|
12-13 years |
1300 * |
* |
|
14-18 years |
1300+ * |
* |
Men |
19-70 years |
1000 |
|
|
Over 70 |
1300 * |
* |
Women |
19-50 years |
1000 |
|
|
Over 50 |
1300 * |
* |
Pregnant |
(over 18) |
1000 |
|
Breastfeeding |
(over 18) |
1200 |
|
Why is Calcium Important in the Diet?
Calcium is a mineral that is stored in bones and teeth where it provides structure and strength. Calcium is also involved in helping muscles and nerves to work properly, clotting blood and regulating enzyme activity.
Calcium is probably best known for the essential role it plays in building and maintaining strong healthy bones. Our childhood and adolescent years are when our bones are growing, developing and strengthening the most. We achieve peak bone mass or maximum bone strength in our early twenties.
Consuming adequate calcium during this time is essential to help maximise our bone density and reduce the chance of osteoporosis later in life. Osteoporosis is a condition where the bones lose calcium, become fragile and tend to fracture more easily. It is a major cause of disability in Australia affecting one in two women and one in three men, over the age of 60.
Consuming enough calcium every day is not only important in childhood and adolescence. From middle age, bones tend to gradually lose mineral and strength Eating enough calcium-containing foods throughout adulthood may help slow bone mineral loss and therefore help reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
What is the Richest Source of Calcium?
Dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt are the major source of calcium in the Australian diet providing around 60% of the calcium consumed. The Dietary Guidelines for Australians specifically recommend that milk, yogurt or cheese be included in our daily diet because of their readily available dietary calcium.
Alternative Sources of Calcium
Few other foods provide the body with as much calcium per serve as dairy foods. Milk contains a lot of calcium per serve and this calcium is well absorbed by the body.
Calcium can be found in canned fish (where the bones are eaten), nuts and green leafy vegetables, but a person would often need to eat a lot of these foods to absorb the same amount of calcium as that provided by a glass of milk (for example, 32 Brussels sprouts, 6 ½ cups of shredded green cabbage, one cup of dry roasted almonds)!
The following table shows the approximate number of portions of a range of different foods that a person would need to consume in order for their body to absorb the same amount of calcium as it would get from one serve of dairy:
Food | Serving size (g) | No Servings Required to Absorb Same Amount of Calcium as from 250ml Milk |
|---|
Milk (regular or low fat) |
200 |
1.0 |
Yogurt (regular or low fat) |
200 |
1.0 |
Cheddar cheese (regular or low fat) |
40 |
1.0 |
Almonds (dry roasted) |
28 |
5.9 |
Beans (red) |
172 |
14.5 |
Beans (white) |
110 |
5.2 |
Bok choy |
85 |
2.4 |
Broccoli |
71 |
5.5 |
Brussel sprouts |
78 |
8.3 |
Cabbage (Chinese) |
85 |
2.4 |
Cabbage (green) |
75 |
6.2 |
Canned fish (sardines) |
105 |
1.1 |
Cauliflower |
62 |
8.6 |
Sesame seeds |
28 |
13.0 |
Soy drink (unfortified) |
250 |
31.0 |
Soy drink (fortified) |
250 |
1.4 |
Spinach |
90 |
16.2 |
Sweet potatoes |
164 |
10.2 |
Tofu (calcium set) |
126 |
1.3 |
Getting Your 3 Serves
Including 3 serves of dairy foods every day is easy. Try some of these great tasting tips:
- For a tasty, low-fat snack, simply blend low-fat milk and yogurt with fruits such as bananas or strawberries.
- For a calcium boost, top fresh fruit or cereal and milk, with fruit flavoured yogurt.
- Milk is a healthy and tasty alternative to cordial or soft drink for growing kids.
- For weekend and after-school snacks, freeze fruit flavoured yogurt into ‘icypole’ moulds or ice cube trays.
- Freeze a frozen flavoured milk carton in children’s lunch boxes.
- Make your vegetables more interesting and top with grated cheese.
- Cheese is always great on sandwiches.
- For a delicious snack, top savoury muffins with grilled tomato and shredded mozzarella and some Italian herbs.