Date of Completion

Spring 5-12-2023

Thesis Advisor(s)

Ock K. Chun

Honors Major

Nutritional Sciences

Abstract

Adequate calcium and vitamin D intake is necessary for proper bone health in peri- and postmenopausal women. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on calcium and vitamin D intakes and adequacy levels in peri- and postmenopausal women. To evaluate this, the current study utilized baseline food records and demographic data from forty-six peri- and early postmenopausal women collected from a 3-arm, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial which aimed to evaluate the effects of blackcurrant supplementation on prevention of bone loss in peri- and postmenopausal women. Significant differences in the data were determined using t-tests, ANOVA, and the McNemar test with significance level P < 0.05. Results showed that supplementation significantly increased calcium and vitamin D intakes and adequacy levels; however, most of the data did not show demographics or health characteristics to be associated with intake levels. Additionally, the greatest food sources of calcium and vitamin D were cheese and milk respectively. Ultimately, the current study found that supplementation greatly improved intake and adequacy status of calcium and vitamin D. Yet the implications of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on bone health are unclear due to inconsistent research findings thus, more research is required to clarify this correlation.

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