What can dairy products do to help our body during adolescence?

Last updated 31/01/2025

Bones grow rapidly during your adolescent years, making it one of the most important times to build healthy bones to last a lifetime. For most people, the amount of bone tissue in the skeleton (known as bone mass) peaks by your late twenties, so adolescence is the ideal time to eat enough calcium-rich foods to help optimise your bone growth.

Dairy foods, particularly milk, cheese and yoghurt, are the main source of calcium in our diets and the Australian Dietary Guidelines, which summarise the latest evidence and expert opinion, recommend that adolescents aged 12-18 years eat 3.5 serves of dairy or dairy alternatives every day.¹ A serve of dairy is equivalent to 250ml milk, 200g yoghurt or 40g of cheese (approximately two slices).

In addition to calcium, dairy foods provide a natural source of nine other essential nutrients including potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, carbohydrate, protein, vitamin A, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and zinc. These nutrients are important for healthy blood and immune systems, eyesight, muscle and nerve function, healthy skin, energy and growth and repair in all parts of your body.