Dietary and total calcium intakes are associated with lower percentage total body and truncal fat in young, healthy adults.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between different sources of calcium intake (dairy [milk products only], dietary [all dietary sources including dairy], nondairy dietary [all dietary sources excluding dairy], and total [dietary + supplemental]) and fat mass in young adults.

Methods: One hundred ninety-seven healthy Caucasian men and women aged 18 to 28 years from southwestern Ontario underwent whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry to determine total body fat mass (%FM) and truncal fat (%TF). Calcium intakes, determined using a food frequency questionnaire, were divided into quartiles for each of dairy, dietary, nondairy dietary, and total sources.