WA experts say a lack of calcium in young women’s diets is putting them at serious risk of health issues later in life.

New data reveals 93 per cent of Australian teenage girls aged 12 to 17 do not consume enough calcium – the most deficient demographic in the country.

The recommended daily calcium intake for teens is 1300mg.

That could look like one milk-based beverage, a tub of yoghurt, a slice of cheese, a handful of almonds and a calcium-fortified cereal.

High school student Genevieta Postma, 14, says dairy and calcium are not a priority for her and her peers.

“I don’t really think about it that often; I just eat dairy foods if they happen to be there and I want it,” she says.

“My friends don’t really avoid it, but we don’t have dairy often, probably just because we don’t know it’s important to have.”

ECU School of Medical Health and Sciences Professor Amanda Devine says getting enough calcium early is essential for healthy development.

“Young people have a window of opportunity to strengthen their bones during these formative teenage years,” she says.

“When girls have a suboptimal intake of calcium, they haven’t got the foundations to make their bones nice and strong.”

Professor Devine says there are a number of reasons behind the widespread deficiency.

“Girls’ dietary behaviours change when they’re in high school; they get influenced by their peers and oftentimes become worried about their weight,” she says.

“During puberty, girls tend to change in terms of their body size due to the increase of adipose tissue, so sometimes they’ll respond differently about that and alter their diet to try and not gain as much weight.”

But Professor Devine says a lack of calcium now could lead to long-term consequences.

Osteoporosis is a chronic disease characterised by weakened bones and the number of Western Australians diagnosed with the disease is forecast to increase to over 152,000 by 2045.

The cost of treating musculoskeletal conditions including osteoporosis was estimated to have reached $1.03 billion in 2025.

To combat the rise of osteoporosis, Professor Devine is calling for a bigger focus on nutrition education for teens.

“We’re not doing enough to shift young people’s approach to their diet,” she says.

“We’ve got to get teachers in schools to activate children’s learning and encourage them to think about how they could incorporate calcium-rich foods into their diet every day.”

But Miss Postma thinks school-based education won’t resonate with teenagers.

“I’d suggest putting it online or on social media because most teens are on there and they might not listen if it was a teacher telling them,” she says.

“It’d just be, ‘this is another thing we have to memorise for a test’, instead of something we would think to put into our everyday lives”.