Objective: To describe associations between sociodemographic factors and calcium intake in premenopausal women.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: Population-based.
Subjects: A total of 467 randomly selected, predominantly Caucasian Tasmanian women aged 25-44 y, response rate 63%.
Main outcome measures: calcium intake, sociodemographic factors, anthropometrics, osteoporosis knowledge and self-efficacy.
Results: Education level, calcium-specific osteoporosis knowledge and self-efficacy were all independently associated with calcium intake (P<0.05). The odds of achieving the recommended dietary intake for calcium increased with higher levels of calcium-specific self-efficacy and knowledge, and decreased in smokers or if the household's main financial provider was unemployed (P<0.05).
Conclusions: Women who have lower levels of education, who are in households where the main financial provider is unemployed, who are smokers, and those with low levels of calcium-specific self-efficacy and knowledge are at risk of not achieving adequate calcium intake. This information will assist targeting of public health strategies aimed at improving the calcium intake of premenopausal women.