Award Date

5-2011

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

Health Sciences

First Committee Member

Michelle Chino, Chair

Second Committee Member

Chad Cross

Third Committee Member

Shawn Gerstenberger

Fourth Committee Member

Timothy Bungum

Graduate Faculty Representative

Sally Miller

Number of Pages

53

Abstract

Calcium is a very important nutrient and as such, it is very important that all humans consume sufficient amounts. However, some calcium supplements have been known to contain small quantities of lead. This research project used a retrospective approach to explore the trade-off between the benefits of calcium vs. the potential lead exposure amongst people who are taking these supplements. A survey consisting of 10 questions was used to try to assess the rate of consumption of specific types of calcium supplements. This research project obtained lead levels in calcium supplements from previous research and applied that data into this research project using the assumption that the levels were consistent to currents levels of lead in calcium supplements. The Mann-Whitney and Chi-Square tests were used to analyze the data, since it was determined that the continuous variables in the data were non-normal and the other variables were categorical. Significance was determined for α<.05. It was found that women consume more milligrams of calcium per day when compared to men and they also as have a higher exposure to lead as a result. The research also found that there is a positive association between age and the length of time a person has been consuming calcium supplements.

Keywords

Calcium; Calcium in human nutrition; Dietary supplements; Lead; Lead poisoning; Nevada – Las Vegas

Disciplines

Public Health | Vital and Health Statistics

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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