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You remember your mother admonishing you to drink your milk. Now that you have kids of your own, you wonder why it's hard to get them to even touch a glass of milk.

Milk is a rich source of calcium and protein, but lots of parents complain that their children won't drink it. If that's true in your family, you might want to try to discover why that is and what you can do about it. Does your child not like the taste? Does it upset his or her stomach afterward? Or is your 9-year-old filling up on juices, sports drinks and soda?

A National Institutes of Health panel concluded in the mid-1990s that a lot of Americans - not just kids - don't get the calcium they need. Calcium is a major component of mineralized tissues and is required for normal growth and development of the skeleton and teeth.

The recommended amount of calcium for children 6 to 8 years is 800 milligrams and those between 9 and 18 should have 1,300 milligrams daily - the equivalent to four glasses of milk a day.

If your child is guzzling sodas, juices and sports drinks instead of milk, then you need to impose restrictions on them. Limit those drinks at home, and fill the refrigerator instead with fresh milk, water and 100 percent juices. (Some juices, such as orange juices, are fortified with calcium.)

Too much soda, by the way, can lower the level of calcium in the blood. Soda contains phosphorus, often listed on the ingredient label of sodas as phosphoric acid. The body needs phosphorus. But how much you get isn't as important as the ratio of phosphorus to calcium in your diet. The ideal ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the diet is 1:1, and a calcium to phosphorus ratio lower than 1:2 can cause calcium to be drawn from the bones in order to correct the ratio. This can help lead to calcium deficiency.

For children who aren't big milk drinkers, one suggestion is to find other calcium-rich foods, such as dairy products. Some suggestions are yogurt, natural cheeses or milkshakes made with frozen nonfat yogurt or ice cream. Some non-dairy foods contain calcium, such as broccoli, kale, spinach, tofu and canned salmon. Also serve calcium-fortified orange juice.

It's also important to determine why your child is doesn't like milk. Check if milk upsets his or her stomach. You can determine this by keeping a food diary, writing down when your child has dairy products and how he or she feels afterward for a few hours. If he or she is experiencing discomfort after drinking or eating anything dairy, then speak to your pediatrician about the possibility the child is lactose intolerant. Lactose-free milk is found right next to the regular milk in grocery stores.

For  More   Information:  Please  consult  your   physician  on  your  next  visit.