Sociodemographic Variation in Knowledge of Osteoporosis and Locally Available Calcium-Rich Foods Among Urban Women Living on Low Incomes in Davao, Philippines

We explored knowledge of osteoporosis and locally available calcium-rich foods among 1,151 urban women in the Philippines and analyzed the cross-sectional associations of their responses to questions about knowledge with their age, educational background, and family income status. In total, 80.3% of the women had heard about osteoporosis; a higher educational background independently predicted this awareness. For knowledge about locally available calcium-rich foods, older age was a positive predictor, whereas higher educational background was a negative predictor. We believe that more emphasis should be placed on locally available foods as part of nutritional education for young urban Filipinos.