D.B.
You don't want to just give calcium. Vitamins & minerals and other elements are absorbed in combination, not singly. So one of the reasons people are deficient is that there is such an emphasis on buying a bottle of this and a bottle of that. Not only are consumers trying to play "kitchen chemist" mixing and matching vitamins and minerals on their own (with the danger of overdose) there's the huge expense of so many different products. This is good for the vitamin companies and the "health food" stores (most of whose employees don't know any more than the grocery store clerk) because it creates huge profits. But after years of people doing this, we have more disease and more deficiencies.
The other reasons for low calcium (and other nutrients) is that our food supply is either heavily processed (convenience foods, fast foods, preservatives) or heavily fertilized from mega-farms, with few plants being allowed to grow to full maturity. So the peach you buy today is only 1/20th the nutrient value of the peach bought in the 1950s. Moreover, with the hole in the ozone layer, more harmful sun rays get through so there's more skin cancer, so everyone is using more sunscreen, and they're getting less Vitamin D, which is one of many keys to the absorption of calcium. See how the problem compounds??
So what I recommend is a comprehensive formula with all of the "partner" ingredients needed, which also supports the immune system overall. (So kids get sick less often - a nice bonus.) And a highly absorbable formula is very important (upwards of 90-95%) - most pills including vitamins are absorbed 15-30%, so the rest is wasted. (That's why a lot of doctors call vitamin pills "expensive urine" because so much is eliminated!) I also recommend a patented formula (very hard to get in the food industry because few companies will take the time or make the effort to prove safety, efficacy and uniqueness). I make sure there are no warning labels - look on most kids' vitamins and other supplements, and you'll see that the FDA requires them to indicate the dangers. I make sure of credentials of the Chief Scientific Officer, and look for things like the company's Good Manufacturing Practices certification from the FDA, membership in the Council for Responsible Nutrition, and a few other criteria. It's also useful to find out if a product can be sold in very strict countries like Australia, New Zealand and Germany where standards are much much higher than in the US and where many ingredients are not allowed.
My family has great bone density test results and all levels of blood work are outstanding. My physician has marveled at it and she really hasn't seen any of us for the last 6 years we've been doing this.
It's much more economical and you get more "bang for your buck" when you address the entire nutrient needs of the human cell rather than work on just one ingredient. The body can metabolize ingredients just fine if they are in combination, the right proportions, and in a form that can be swept into the cell itself (surviving digestion and elimination). There's just not enough in our food anymore to make a huge difference. Yes, you want to "eat right" but it's simply not enough, and the AMA made recommendations to this effect well over 10 years ago.
Hope this helps.
