Calcium supplementation increases stature and bone mineral mass of 16- to 18-year-old boys.

Study answer

What this study found

Calcium supplementation produced a clear positive effect on skeletal growth and bone mineral accretion in late-adolescent boys. Compared with placebo, the supplement group had greater height gain by 0.4%, P = 0.0004, about 7 mm, along with higher lean mass by 1.3% and whole-body BMC by 1.3% (both P = 0.02). Bone gains were also seen at key sites, including lumbar spine BMC 2.5% (P = 0.004), hip total BMC 2.3% (P = 0.01), femoral neck BMC 2.4% (P = 0.02), and intertrochanter BMC 2.7% (P = 0.01). There were no significant effects on body weight, fat mass, or fat fraction, and no side effects…

Study & population

Randomized, placebo-controlled trial in healthy male sixth-form students aged 16 to 18 years from Cambridge, UK.

Intervention

Daily oral calcium supplementation with orange-flavored chewable calcium carbonate tablets providing 1000 mg elemental calcium per day, given as two Calcichew-500 tablets.

Key limitation

Single-center study in healthy, predominantly white adolescent boys, which limits generalizability.

View full study detailsView sourceOpen PDF

Original abstract