Strategies are needed to address the shortfall in children's dairy food and Ca intakes. The present review identified interventions targeting an increase in children's dairy food or Ca intakes, and determined characteristics associated with successful intervention.

A systematic literature search identified fourteen intervention studies, published in English, between 1990 and 2010. Studies were evaluated for study population, setting and mode of delivery, dietary targets and outcome measures, measures of intervention intensity, intervention description, the use of behaviour change techniques and intervention effectiveness.

Interventions targeting an increase in dairy food or Ca intake.

Children aged 5–12 years.

Ten of the fourteen studies were considered to be effective. Studies focusing on encouraging intake of dairy foods or Ca alone were all effective, compared with 55 % of studies promoting dairy within the context of a healthy diet. Effective interventions tended to be higher in intensity, provide dairy foods and were delivered across a variety of settings to a range of primary targets. The number of behaviour change techniques used did not differentiate effective and ineffective interventions, but the use of taste exposure and prompting practice appeared to be important for effective intervention.

Interventions that target an increase in children's dairy food or Ca intake could potentially increase children's dairy food intake by about one serving daily. Research conducted outside the USA is needed. The review has identified some promising strategies likely to be part of effective interventions for improving dairy and Ca intakes in countries where children's intake is insufficient.

Dairy food consumption is important for Australian children as it contributes key nutrients such as protein and Ca. The aim of the present paper is to describe dietary intake from dairy foods for Australian children aged 2–16 years in 2007.

Secondary analysis of a quota-sampled survey using population-weighted, 1 d (24 h) dietary recall data.

Australian national survey conducted from February to August 2007.

Children (n 4487) aged 2–16 years.

Most Australian children consumed dairy foods (84–98 %), with the proportion consuming tending to decrease with age and males consuming significantly more than females from the age of 4 years. Milk was the most commonly consumed dairy food (58–88 %) and consumed in the greatest amount (243–384 g/d). Most children consumed regular-fat dairy products. The contribution of dairy foods to total energy intake decreased with age; from 22 % of total energy at age 2–3 years to 11 % at age 14–16 years. This trend was similar for all nutrients analysed. Dairy food intake peaked between 06.00 and 10.00 hours (typical breakfast hours) corresponding with the peak in dairy Ca intake. Australian children (older than 4 years) did not reach recommendations for dairy food intake, consuming ≤2 servings/d.

The under-consumption of dairy foods by Australian children has important implications for intake of key nutrients and should be addressed by multiple strategies.

To analyse the temporal distribution of the intake of cereal and dairy products in the Republic of Ireland.

The North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey established a database of habitual food and drink consumption using a 7-day food diary. The database also recorded the time and day of food consumption. Mean intakes of cereal and dairy products were calculated for time of the day and day of the week.

At the weekend, the percentage of consumers decreased for nearly all cereal and dairy products. White bread, total cereals, full-fat milk and total dairy intakes were significantly lower at the weekend (P<0.01) compared with weekdays. Intakes of cereal and dairy products over time of the day showed clear mealtime or snacking patterns when the number of consumers was controlled for. White bread, wholemeal bread, total cereals, full-fat milk, reduced-fat milk and total dairy intakes showed mealtime peaks for morning, afternoon and evening. When examined by tertile of intake, tertile of percentage energy from fat and tertile of fibre intake, intakes of cereal and dairy products over time of the day and day of the week were similar to trends described above, regardless of the tertile.

Temporal analysis of the intakes of cereal and dairy products did not reveal any unusual trends in this population. However, the significant methodological issues raised in this paper will be of benefit to other aspects of research in this area.