We’ve all heard over and over throughout our lives that “dairy builds strong bones” and it is a good source of calcium. Well, the truth is, that turns out to be far from the truth. Scientific studies overwhelming show that higher dairy & calcium consumption is associated with higher incidence of fracture, and vice versa. What’s going on here?
Without getting into the intricate metabolic technicalities, when the diet creates a high acid load in the body (high animal food/protein consumption cause this), calcium is used to buffer it, and higher levels end up being excreted. Another factor to note is bioavailability of calcium in dairy vs plant foods – it is absorbed better from plant foods, so even though they may contain less calcium per serving, they are a perfectly adequate source, especially leafy greens. Also, calcium supplements have not proven to show any benefit for the vast majority of people and can actually be harmful (supplements in general is a whole other topic of conversation).
There is much more to bone health than just calcium intake. Vitamin D is very importantly involved – best obtained from getting out in the sunshine – and probably most important of all is 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑒! This has the biggest impact on bone density.
So, you do not need to drink milk or consume other dairy products to get calcium or “strong bones” unlike the industry would have you believe (power of gov’t/industry & dogma are other major topics). 
Most importantly, dairy comes with a host of other problems, which I will cover in later parts.
A couple sources/references:
Veganism, bone mineral density, and body composition: a study in Buddhist nuns – PubMed
Subgroup analysis for the risk of cardiovascular disease with calcium supplements – PMC
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