Implementing food-based dietary guidelines for - United Nations ...

Terminology and framework for nutrient intake values
referred to as nutrient intake values (NIVs). The term
nutrient was chosen instead of dietary to denote that
these values are for the intakes of specific nutrients, not
food components, such as cereals, fruits, vegetables, etc.
Also, the term value was selected instead of reference
to reflect the wide range of uses and applications of
these standards. In addition to being a set of standards
for assessing the adequacy of intakes of a population,
they also serve as important values for setting nutrition
policies that influence agricultural, economic, and
legislative decisions of a country or region. Thus, they
serve as values for assessing nutrient status as well as
making policy decisions.
Terminology: expressions and definitions
of nutrient intake values
In recent years, the number of terms used to describe
a set of nutrient intake values has increased from a
single recommended intake to multiple recommendations
spanning a range of nutrient requirements from
inadequate to excessive. This expansion is due, in part,
to the increased uses and applications of nutrient intake
values [1, 2]. Definitions of the various terms used to
describe the nutrient intake values defined by repre-
S17
sentative countries and regions follow; they are also
summarized in table 1.
US and Canadian terminology
DRI (dietary reference intake)
This term was developed by a joint US-Canadian Committee
charged with establishing reference values for
planning and assessing diets of healthy populations
as well as serving as a basis for nutrition policies. The
DRIs refer to the complete set of reference intakes,
including the RDA (recommended dietary allowance),
AI (adequate intake), UL (tolerable upper intake level),
and EAR (estimated average requirement) [3–7]. DRIs
are expressed as intakes per day but are meant to represent
average intakes of individuals over time. It is
thought that the nutrient intake can vary substantially
from day to day without ill effects [2, 3]. Each DRI
expression (RDA, AI, UL, and EAR) has specific uses
for planning and assessing diets or for applications to
nutrition policy and education.
RDA (recommended dietary allowance)
The RDA is the original term introduced by the US
Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research
Council in the 1940s [8]. It was defined as the level of
TABLE 1. Comparison of the suggested “harmonized” terminology with terms in use at present around the world
Recommendation
Umbrella term for
the set of recommendations
Average
requirement
Recommended
intake level
Lower reference
intake
Harmonized
terms USA/Canada UK
NIV DRI DRV VNR
ANR EAR EAR AR RN
European
Communities Mexico WHO/FAO
INL X RDA RNI PRI IDR RNI
LRNI LTI
Safe intake AI Lower end
of safe intake
range
Upper level of safe
intake
Appropriate
macronutrient
distribution range
UNL UL Upper end
of safe intake
range
Lower end
of safe intake
range
Upper end
of safe intake
range
AMDR Minimum and
maximum
population
ranges
IDS
LSC UL
Population
mean intake
goals
AI, adequate intake; AMDR, adequate macronutrient distribution range; ANR, average nutrient requirement; AR, average requirement;
DRI, dietary reference intake; DRV, dietary reference value; EAR, estimated average requirement; IDR, ingestiόn diaria recomendada; IDS,
ingestiόn diaria sugerida; INL X , individual nutrient level, x = percentile chosen; LRNI, lower reference nutrient intake; LSC, límite superior de
consumo; LTI, lowest threshold intake; NIV, nutrient intake value; PRI, population reference intake; RDA, recommended dietary allowance;
RN, promedio de los requerimientos nutrimentales; RNI, reference nutrient intake; UL, upper tolerable nutrient intake level; UNL, upper
nutrient level; VNR, valores nutrimentales de referencia