Dairy-Free Calcium Sources for Kids: Brands and Products Guide

By Paige Mandel, MS RD

Has your doctor or dietitian recommended your child to explore a dairy-free diet? Are you curious if your child would benefit from adhering to a dairy-free lifestyle?

A dairy-free diet recommendation could be due to one of many reasons for both children and adults alike. In children, regular consumption of dairy may lead to exacerbated symptoms of eczema, asthma, gastrointestinal discomfort, or disrupted bowel habits. Intolerance to dairy may be caused by a cow’s milk allergy, lactose intolerance, cardiovascular and inflammatory conditions, cancer, hormonal imbalances, etc. or individuals may be inclined to avoid dairy at meals with meat due to religious dietary restrictions or ethical beliefs.

While this exploration may be both confusing and dauting at first, the dairy-free market has expanded exponentially in recent years, making the swap to dairy-free products significantly easier, and we’re here to help! A dairy-free diet simply is defined by a balanced diet with the substitution of dairy-products with calcium fortified plant based alternatives. Eating dairy is most commonly, the most effective way to include calcium in the diet. Therefore, the initial concern is often “will my child get enough calcium for their growing bones”?

What is Calcium?

Calcium is an important mineral for growing, strong bones, and also a key element to proper heart beat and muscle contraction, normal nerve conduction, blood clotting and maintaining connective tissue.

How Much Calcium Does My Child Need?

Calcium is measured in milligrams (mg), with different needs at different stages of life. The optimal source of calcium for kids is through food, yet calcium supplementation may be recommended by your child’s healthcare team, to help meet these needs if their diet is inadequate¹. Additionally, Vitamin D is the nutrient that helps the body take in calcium from the foods we eat, enhancing its absorption. Therefore, both calcium and vitamin D are needed together to help support optimal bone growth in kids and teens.

The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Calcium and Vitamin D are suggested by life stage^2,3

It is also important to consider protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake in addition to the many micronutrients, vitamins and minerals of your dairy-free alternative selection.

Here is a cheat-sheet to the market of kid-friendly, plant based, dairy-free products: