Table 2.

Main effects of calcium supplementation on bone mineral density at different sites

Site	No of studies	No of participants	Effect size*at end of trial	No of studies	No of participants	Effect size*after supplement ceased
Femoral neck (g/cm2)	10	1073	0.07 (−0.05 to 0.19)	5	617	0.10 (−0.06 to 0.26)
Lumbar spine (g/cm2)	11	1164	0.08 (−0.04 to 0.20)	5	617	−0.01 (−0.16 to 0.17)
Total body (g)	9	953	0.14 (0.01 to 0.27)†	1	96	0.00 (−0.40 to 0.40)‡
Upper limb (g/cm2)	12	1579	0.14 (0.04 to 0.24)†	6	840	0.14 (0.01 to 0.28)†

^*Standardised mean difference (95% confidence interval); a standardised mean difference of 0.3 is regarded as small.²²

^†P<0.05.

^‡Single study only.