Is dairy good for me?
Dairy foods provide a unique package of more than 10 essential nutrients important for growing children just like you. These nutrients help to support your nervous and immune system, maintain healthy eyesight, skin, muscle and nerve function, as well as provide energy to support optimal growth.
Dairy foods are best known for calcium and the role it plays in building strong bones and teeth and are packed with bone friendly nutrients, especially calcium and protein and phosphorous. Milk, cheese and yoghurt are a convenient source of calcium that's easy for the body to absorb.
How can I build strong bones?
Primary school is a crucial time for Aussie kids like you to build strong bones for life and ensure your daily routine includes the three key steps to maintaining good bone health.
These three easy steps are:
- Eat lots of calcium in your foods, like milk, cheese and yoghurt
- "Weight bearing” exercises – sounds weird, but all this means is things like hopping, jumping, skipping and running
- Getting vitamin D from the sun- a little bit of sun is great for us when we are out and about, with a hat and some sun screen of course
Why is calcium important for bones?
Calcium is essential for building and maintaining strong bones. It combines with other minerals (like phosphorus) to form hard crystals that give bones their strength. Because our bodies can’t make calcium, it must come from our diet. If we don’t eat enough calcium-rich foods, calcium will be taken from the bones, and over time bones will become weak and brittle (leading to a disease called osteoporosis). This is why it is so crucial to have a daily supply of calcium-rich foods throughout life. From babies, toddlers, children, teenagers, adults.... we all need calcium!
How much dairy should I have per day?
Most children need between one-and-a-half and three-and-a-half serves of dairy foods every day to help them get calcium.
One serve of dairy is equivalent to;
- 1 cup of milk (250ml) or
- ¾ cup of Yoghurt (200g) or
- 2 slices of cheese (40g)
How many bones do we have?
Babies are born with close to 300 bones. By the time we are adults we have 206 bones.
What happens to all of those bones you might ask?
When you’re an adult some of your bones grow together, and you end up with 206!
What is the biggest bone in your body?
The biggest bone in your body is your thigh bone and connects your hip to your knee. The proper name for this bone is the femur.
What happens if we don’t have bones?
Well, we’d be very, very floppy!
Bones give our bodies shape… without bones our bodies would look like jellyfish!
Why do we have bones?
Bones are the body’s foundation, providing support and structure and giving protection to our organs. Bones help our bodies move and also protect important things found inside our body like our brains and our hearts.
Strong bones matter for leading long, healthy, active and independent lives - allowing us to keep doing all the things that matter to us.