Mapping Critical Health and Nutrition Gaps

Calcium is a fundamental micronutrient critical for multiple aspects of human health, including bone development, pregnancy outcomes, and cardiovascular function. The Global Calcium Dashboard integrates datasets on calcium intake levels, health consequences of inadequate intakes, and public health policies to identify high-priority regions where calcium interventions could save lives and improve health outcomes.

Inadequate calcium consumption has negative consequences in all life stages, with particularly adverse outcomes of maternal and child health. Low calcium intake during pregnancy increases rates of preeclampsia and subsequent preterm birth, threatening both maternal health and neonatal survival. Low calcium intake also contributes to chronic conditions like osteoporosis across the lifespan. Despite its critical importance, populations in over 60% of countries worldwide consume insufficient calcium, failing to meet recommended daily requirements.

The Global Calcium Dashboard organizes and synthesizes data from systematic literature reviews, advanced statistical modeling, and authoritative global health resources to create actionable visualizations of calcium-related health metrics at the national level—empowering donors, researchers, and policymakers with the evidence needed to implement targeted interventions.

Calcium Risk and Intervention Profile Map

This visualization synthesizes Global Calcium Dashboard datasets to classify countries into four distinct typologies based on two critical dimensions: health risk associated with inadequate calcium intake and existing calcium interventions or policies. The health risk assessment incorporates each country’s estimated burden of preterm birth and maternal hypertensive disorders alongside the population’s apparent calcium intake. These three variables were converted to a common scale before taking the average of the three values. Countries are categorized as above or below the median to create high-risk and low-risk classifications.

The intervention and policy environment evaluation examines the presence of calcium fortification legislation and antenatal care guidelines that include calcium recommendations. Countries with one or both policy types are classified as high intervention/policy environments, while those lacking both components are designated as low intervention/policy environments.

Countries displaying the greatest calcium-related health risks combined with absent or inadequate intervention policies (shown in red) represent the highest-priority opportunities for calcium interventions. These populations stand to benefit most significantly from evidence-based calcium programs, such as large-scale food fortification and targeted supplementation initiatives for pregnant women. This typology enables policymakers, donors, and public health organizations to strategically allocate resources where calcium interventions could achieve maximum health impact and save the most lives.

About the Global Calcium Dashboard

The Global Calcium Dashboard was created by the Nutrition Science Program of The New York Academy of Sciences, with funding from the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. The content was developed and compiled by Megan Bourassa, Keith Lividini, Ziaul Rana, and Filomena Gomes. The systematic reviews were conducted by Gabriela Cormick and her team at the Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy in Buenos Aires. Additional data for this website were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 Study and the Global Fortification Data Exchange. For any additional information or questions, please contact us at info@nyas.org.

Last updated: 8/12/25