Calcium and vitamin D intake in a Canadian population: Results from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study

Objectives. To estimate calcium and vitamin D intakes in Canadian men and women, to compare these intakes to Canadian guidelines, and to determine factors associated with intake of these nutrients.; Methods. We estimated intakes of calcium and vitamin D from both diet and supplements using cross-sectional data from 9,423 randomly selected subjects 25 years of age and older who completed an interviewer administered abbreviated food frequency questionnaire. The participants were recruited from July 1995 to September 1997 in nine centres across Canada. We characterized the relationships of calcium and vitamin D with socio-demographic and lifestyle variables, physical characteristics, medical diagnosis and use of osteoporosis related medications.; Results. The median daily intake for calcium was estimated to be 930 (interquartile range (IQR) = 589;1360) mg for women, and 774 (IQR = 507;1155) mg for men; for vitamin D, intakes were 3.6 (IQR = 1.1;10.0) pg and 2.7 (IQR = 0.9;7.5) pg for women and men, respectively. Age and study centre were found to be associated with calcium and vitamin D intakes in both genders. Other variables associated with calcium intake included vitamin D intake, weekly energy expenditure and femoral neck bone mineral density. Factors found to be associated with vitamin D intake in both genders included calcium intake, height and caffeine intake.; Conclusions. The only group that on average met adequate daily intake levels for calcium was women aged 51-70. For vitamin D, on average, women and men under age 51 met adequate intake levels. Further education programs may be required to encourage increased consumption of these nutrients.