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M-A senior wins $50,000 scholarship for calcium study by Dave Boyce Almanac News This past winter, Ms. Sehgal surveyed 198 M-A students in grades 9-12 and found that just 38 percent of the students took enough calcium to meet daily requirements. The survey group was made up of 55 percent boys and 45 percent girls, with 20 percent of the girls meeting the calcium requirement and 52 percent of the boys, she said. Calcium intake drops as the teen years go by, Ms. Sehgal said in an interview. By 18, "barely anybody takes enough calcium," she said. "It's, like, crucial to take that calcium during adolescence" Women, she said, are four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis because of lower female bone mass generally and drops in estrogen levels after menopause. Adequate calcium intake as a teen is a big deal. "It's, like, crucial to take that calcium during adolescence," she said, adding that in her survey, 85 percent of the students also knew that to be true. Why does calcium intake drop off? Ms. Sehgal didn't have an answer, but guessed that teens are learning to make their own decisions and may be giving less credence to the views of their parents. Ms. Sehgal's father is a research physician at Stanford University hospital, she said, while her mother is a retired physician. The contest was sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered by the College Board. Local students have been well represented in this annual contest lately. In 2008, Maya Mathur of Woodside won a $35,000 scholarship, and in 2007, M-A grad Mio Frisk won a $15,000 scholarship. While working/volunteering at the Institute of Clinical Outcomes Research and Education (ICORE) in Palo Alto, Calif., Amrita wondered if teenagers like her were taking enough calcium to help them prevent osteoporosis later in their lives. Her study, "Can We Start the War Against Osteoporosis Early? Are Teenagers Taking Enough Calcium?" found that only 38 percent of students in her study met the requirement for the daily recommended calcium intake, with just 20 percent of girls and 52 percent of boys participating in the study meeting the daily recommended intake. Her study also found that teenagers got less calcium in their diet as they got older. Amrita believes her results show a need for increased health education among teenagers to promote the importance of calcium intake. "The YES Competition is designed to encourage students to explore careers in public health and epidemiology, but we know it does much more than that," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "Alexander and Amrita addressed national and global health issues and we congratulate them. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of their hard work in the future."    Watch Interview and read more