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>>My name is Tina.
[background noise]
Dozens of middle school aged girls attended the 10th Camp Calcium
at Purdue University. Typical summer camp fare
such as swimming, canoeing
and crafts were the lure, not the purpose.
This year's three week camp focused on measuring the effects
on vitamin D on calcium absorption.
That requires each girl to strictly adhere to a custom diet
with precise portions.
Food and nutrition professor Connie Weaver has headed 17
years of research that has helped
to create national calcium intake standards.
>>We've found that boys utilize calcium more efficiently
and don't need more calcium to grow their bigger skeletons.
We found that blacks utilize calcium more efficiently
than whites.
We found that dietary salt, it causes you
to excrete more calcium and so you're more at risk
for osteoporosis if your salt intake is high.
>>Weaver says the camp teaches the girls to eat healthy
and the importance of exercise.
It also prompts them to think of the future.
>>Like where are they going to college, what might they study
because they're exposed to so many disciplines during camp.
>>The girls most in depth exposure to science comes
as technicians measure the length, shape, position
and density of their bones.
Kesandra Simpson knew that a lot would be required of her
at the camp but the memory of her grandmother falling
and breaking her hip, helped motivate her.
>>I just figured that I would help out studies instead
of just sitting at home or going
to a camp that's just not doing anything
>>Thirteen year old Angelica Olibarez said
what she learned at Purdue will carry into her lifestyle
when she goes home to South Bend.
>>Try to like balance out my meals and like not eat like most
of the time and to exercise more.
Cause like we walk, like most of the places.
>>That's the kind of changes Weaver hopes for.
Eighty percent of all fractures occur in women.
A stat Weaver traces directly back
to calcium deficient diets among teenage girls.
A typical girl needs four daily servings of dairy
for optimum long term bone health,
that's twice the amount camp calcium participant's report
consuming, prior to coming to Purdue.
For Purdue News Service, I'm Jim Schenke.