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

Methods for using nutrient intake values (NIVs)
to assess or plan nutrient intakes
Suzanne P. Murphy and Hester H. Vorster
Abstract
This article describes the methods for using nutrient
intake values (NIVs) to plan and assess intakes of both
individuals and population groups. The advantages of
the more recent standards, which use an average nutrient
requirement (ANR) and its standard deviation to
describe the distribution of nutrient requirements, are
highlighted. The goal of assessing the intake of an individual
is to determine the probability that the person’s usual
diet is meeting his or her nutrient needs and whether the
person is at risk for adverse effects from excessive intakes,
whereas the goal of planning an individual’s intake is to
ensure that the probability of inadequate intake and the
likelihood of excessive intake are both small. The goal of
assessing intakes of groups is to determine the prevalence
of inadequate intakes and the prevalence of potentially
excessive intakes, whereas the goal of planning nutrient
intakes for groups is to minimize the prevalence of
inadequate intakes and also to minimize the prevalence
of potentially excessive intakes. For all of these goals, it is
important to utilize appropriate food-composition tables
and accurate dietary assessment methods. To fully utilize
the new paradigm, it will be necessary for the professional
nutrition community to identify ways to implement
these new procedures in nutrition research and nutrition
programs, to describe the strengths and weaknesses of
the results, and to contribute to the evolution of both the
theory and the application of the NIVs when planning
and assessing diets.
Suzanne P. Murphy is affiliated with the University of
Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; Hester H. Vorster is affiliated
with North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus),
Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Please direct queries to the corresponding author: Suzanne
P. Murphy, Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, 1236 Lauhala
Street, Suite 407, Honolulu, HI, 96813 USA; e-mail: suzanne@
crch.hawaii.edu.
Key words: Assessing diets, average nutrient requirement,
individual nutrient level, nutrient intake values,
planning diets, upper nutrient level
Introduction
In the last 20 years, new knowledge and approaches
have led to many new ways to use nutrient intake
values (NIVs). The purpose of this article is to describe
the appropriate uses of nutrient-based dietary recommendations
and to illustrate how they can be implemented
for both individuals and population groups.
The concepts and terminology for NIVs as described
by King et al. [1] in this issue will be used: the average
nutrient requirement (ANR), the individual nutrient
level (INL x ), and the upper nutrient level (UNL).
The uses of NIVs fall into two broad categories:
they may be used to assess dietary intakes and to plan
dietary intakes [2, 3]. Assessment involves determining
the probable adequacy or inadequacy of intakes
for individuals and the prevalence of adequate (or
inadequate) intakes for population groups. Planning
involves setting intake targets for individuals and
determining desirable intake distributions for groups.
Assessment and planning are often used iteratively, first
to assess a nutritional situation, then to plan an intervention
to improve the situation, and finally, to assess
the impact of the intervention. Several hypothetical
examples of the correct uses of NIVs are given at the
end of this article.
There are many specific applications that involve
either assessing or planning diets. Assessment applications
include evaluating the adequacy of a person’s diet
and determining the prevalence of inadequacy using
national surveys. Planning applications are numerous
and include dietary counseling and the design of feeding
programs. Vorster et al. [4] in this issue discuss
these applications in more detail.
Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 28, no. 1 (supplement) © 2007, The United Nations University. S51