Summary

Summary

• Children and young adults do not need dairy foods for good bone health; they do need exercise and a healthy plant-based diet to ensure strong bones.
• Diets loaded with dairy products are associated with an increased risk of many diseases including osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
• From a health perspective, dairy foods should be avoided in the diet.
• Cow’s milk is not a natural food for humans to consume.
• Most people in the world are lactose intolerant.
• Many children are affected by cow’s milk allergies.
• Looking solely at calcium intake and not at calcium losses tells only half the story, while a vegan’s intake might be less than a meat eater’s, their losses are likely to be much lower. A plant-based diet free of animal products - a vegan diet – does not produce these losses.
• There are no scientific reports of calcium deficiency in adult vegans.
• Vitamin D, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin K are all required for good bone health.
• Plant-based sources of calcium are many and varied and offer many other health benefits as well as providing a natural and safe source of calcium.