Hypertension is the underlying risk factor for many chronic diseases. Numerous risk factors for hypertension have been identified. Many are nutritional in nature, including calcium. An inverse relationship has been suggested between calcium intake and blood pressure levels, however the results remain equivocal. This study investigated the influence of increased dairy calcium consumption on blood pressure in young (18-30 years), healthy, females who were assigned to one of the following cohorts via stratified randomization according to caloric intake: usual care (control), 900-1000 mg/day, and 1200-1300 mg/day of calcium. Caloric intake was held constant by substituting customary food items with low-fat dairy products. Weight changes were monitored and used as a control variable. The American Heart Association’s standard procedure was used to measure blood pressures at baseline, 6 and 12 months with a random zero sphygmomanometer. The average of the last 2 of 3 blood pressures assessed in a seated posture was utilized in the analysis. A Pearsons correlation indicated that calcium intake was not correlated to SBP at any time point. However, there was a trend for a positive correlation with DBP (r=0.15, p=0.07). A GLM analysis indicated that the control cohort had a lower calcium intake than the experimental cohorts at both 6 and 12 months; however, the experimental (Med vs. Hi) cohorts were not different at either time point [6-month x(SD): 1033.8(385.9) vs. 1171.7(361.3); 12-month x(SD): 997.9(366.4) vs. 1068.7(391.2)]. Weight was a significant predictor of BP at all time points. It remained a significant predictor of SBP at 6 (p=0.0078) and 12 (p=<.0001) months and DBP at 12 (p=0.0001) months after controlling for baseline values of weight, cohort assignment and BP. Cohort assignment did not have a significant influence on BP at any time point. Change in weight from baseline to 6 months had a significant direct relationship with change in DBP (p=0.0106) and SBP (p=0.0073) at that time point. Since the experimental cohorts did not differ with respect to calcium intake, they were collapsed and compared to the control cohort, and results remained the same (DBP: p=0.01, SBP: p=0.007). A GLM analysis controlling for baseline BP, weight, and cohort assignment indicated that oral contraceptive use was not related to blood pressure. In conclusion, in this study, weight was the most consistent predictor of blood pressure, and an increase in calcium intake did not have an influence on the blood pressure of these normotensive adult females. Keyword(s): disease prevention, research