Revised Recommended Dietary Allowances for Indians - 2010 ...

Revised Recommended
Dietary Allowances for
Indians - 2010
Dr. G.N.V. Brahmam
--Highlights
Scientist – ‘F’, HoD
Division of Community Studies,
National Institute of Nutrition, (I.C.M.R.)
Jamai-Osmania (P.O.), Hyderabad – 500 007.
gnvbrahmam@yahoo.com

GENESIS
1944: Safe Dietary intakes for Indians by Indian
Research Fund Association (now ICMR)
1960: RDA for Indians on Calories & Proteins, by
expert
group, ICMR
1967: RDA for Indians on all other nutrients, by
expert
group, ICMR.
1981: Revision of RDA for Indians by expert group,
ICMR, constituted in 1978.
1991: Revision of RDA for Indians by expert group,
ICMR, constituted in 1988.

REFERENCE MAN & WOMAN
Change in Definition:
The definition for reference Indian adult
man and woman were modified with
regard to age (20 - 39y to 18 - 29y of
age) with a normal BMI and a body
weight of 60kg and 55kg respectively.

ENERGY REQUIREMENTS
A reduction of 4-8 % of energy (100 kcal for sedentary,
145 kcal for moderate and 310 kcal for heavy work per
day) has been recommended on account of a lower
physical activity level in men. In women the requirement
remains similar on account of a higher body weight.
Current estimate of energy requirement for infants is
lower by 11- 20% than the 1988 estimate.
Committee considered the requirement for children at
different physical activity levels.
13-17 years there is an increase in requirements based
on a higher physical activity level of Indian children of
that age group.

PROTEIN REQUIREMENTS
In view of pre-pregnancy weight in general
being 47 kg, and GWG of only 8 kg, as
reported by NFHS and NNMB surveys, the
additional high quality protein requirement
in a pregnant woman gaining 8 kg during
pregnancy, is considered as 0.4, 5.6 and
18.1 g/day, during 1 st , 2 nd & 3 rd trimester,
respectively.
It is suggested that the higher intake of
protein recommended during pregnancy
should come from a normal, varied diet, and

Minimum:
FAT REQUIREMENTS FOR ADULTS
Fat energy should be 15% of total E to ensure adequate
consumption of essential fatty acids and fat soluble
vitamins for most individuals.
20% for women of reproductive age and adults with BMI

To ensure optimal fat quality, use of correct
combination of 2 or more vegetable oils, in 1:1
ratio, is recommended as follows:
Oils containing LA + Oils containing LA & ALA
Ground nut oil / Sesame oil/
Rice Bran Oil / Cotton seed oil
Palmolein + Soybean
+ Mustard oil / Rape seed oil
OR Canola oil,
OR Soybean oil
Oils containing high LA + Oils containing moderate or
low LA
Sunflower / Safflower + Palmolein / palm oil / Olive oil
Sunflower / Safflower + Ground nut / Sesame / Rice bran /
Cotton seed oil

• To limit use of butter / Ghee
• For frying, to avoid Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable
oils (PHVO).
• Instead, to use palm oil, sesame, rice bran, or cotton
seed oils as they have higher thermal stability.
• For bakery items and shortening, to use coconut oil,
palm oil, palm kernel oil or their blends/solid fractions

Fiber:
40 g fiber / 2000 kcal is recommended
Minerals:
Minerals like zinc, selenium and iodine has been included
as separate chapters in the new document.
Calcium and Phosphorous:
Current level of calcium consumption is reported to be
providing less than 400 mg/CU/day. In view of the available
evidences, the present Committee, made upward
revision of calcium requirements for adults (i.e. 600 mg/d).
During pregnancy and lactation the requirement is further
enhanced from 1000 to 1200 mg.
Elemental Ca:P ratio of 1:1 is maintained.

Magnesium
Recommended 340 mg of dietary Mg/Day
Zinc:
Requirements of zinc for adult man and NPNL woman is
set at 12 and 10 mg/day respectively. Levels of zinc intake
for all the physiological groups has been Recommended
Selenium:
Requirements of selenium is set as 40 µg/CU/day

Iodine:
150µg/day is retained (250µg/day for preg. & Lact. Women)
Iron:
Iron has been reduced significantly among all
physiological groups. To achieve this, the committee
recommended that the density of ascorbic acid should be
at least 20mg/ 1000 kcal.

Sodium & Potassium:
A safe intake of 500mg/day which amounts to 5g/day of
salt, desirable sodium : potassium ratio in the diet was
fixed at 1:1 (in mmol).
Manganese:
Estimated requirements for an adult is 2-5 mg/day
Copper:
Estimated requirements for an adult is 2 mg/day
Chromium:
Estimated requirements for an adult is 50-200 µg/day

WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS:
Folate:
• Allowance of folic acid is given in terms of dietary folate
rather than free folic acid.
• Committee retains the 75 µg physiological requirement of
folic acid which can be obtained from 200 µg of dietary folate
per day.
Vitamin B12:
• The present ICMR Committee retains the earlier recommendation
of 1µg/day.

WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS (Contd.):
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C):
Decided to retain the earlier recommendations of RDA for
ascorbic acid for all age groups except for pregnancy where an
additional 20mg/day is recommended for meeting extra needs of
foetal growth.

FAT SOLUBLE VITAMINS:
Vitamin A:
• The present Committee modified the extent of conversion
efficiency of 1:4 to 1:8.
• Upward revision of retinol to 800 µg is recommended during
pregnancy.
• Committee recommends that a minimum of 50% RE be
drawn from animal sources.
Vitamin D:
• Committee retains the earlier recommendations on vitamin D
considering outdoor physical activity as a means of
achieving adequate vitamin D status, under situations of
minimal exposure to sunlight, a specific recommendation of
a daily supplement of 400 IU (10 µg) is retained.

FAT SOLUBLE VITAMINS: (Contd..)
Vitamin E:
• Requirement of alpha tocopherol suggested is 0.8 mg/ g of
dietary essential fatty acids. This roughly works out to 8-10
mg tocopherol /day, depending on the edible oil used.
• 55 μg of vitamin K /day for adults has been recommended
Antioxidants:
• Recommended 400g/day of fruits and vegetables to meet the
requirements of antioxidants such as β Carotene, Vitamin C,
and certain non-nutrients such as polyphenols and
flavanoids.

GROUP
CATEGORY
Body Weight (Kg) Energy (Kcal/Day) Proteins (g/day)
Revised Old Revised Old Revised Old
Sedentary
2320 2425
MAN Moderate 60 60 2730 2875 60 60
Heavy 3490 3800
Sedentary
1900 1875
Moderate 2230 2225 55 50
WOMAN
Heavy 2850 2925
55 50
Pregnant +350 +300 78 65
Lact.

GROUP
MAN
CATEGORY
Sedentary 25
Moderate 30
Visible Fat (g/day) Calcium (mgl/Day) Iron (mg/day)
Revised Old Revised Old Revised Old
20 600 400 17 28
Heavy 40
Sedentary 20
Moderate 25 20 600 400 21 30
WOMAN
Heavy 30
Pregnant 30 30 1200 1000 35 38
Lact.

GROUP
MAN
WOMAN
CATEGORY
Retinol (µg/day) Β Carotene (µg/day) Thiamin (mg/day)
Revised Old Revised Old Revised Old
Sedentary
1.2 1.2
Moderate 600 600 4800 2400 1.4 1.4
Heavy 1.7 1.6
Sedentary
1.0 0.9
Moderate 600 600 4800 2400 1.1 1.1
Heavy 1.4 1.2
Pregnant 800 600 6400 2400 +0.2 +0.2
Lact.

GROUP
CATEGORY
Riboflavin (mg/day) Niacin Eq. (mg/day) Vit. B6 (mg/day)
Revised Old Revised Old Revised Old
MAN
WOMAN
INFANTS
CHILDREN
Sedentary 1.4 1.4 16 16
Moderate 1.6 1.6 18 18
2.0 2.0
Heavy 2.1 1.9 21 21
Sedentary 1.1 1.1 12 12
Moderate 1.3 1.3 14 14 2.0 2.0
Heavy 1.7 1.5 16 16
Pregnant +0.3 +0.2 +2 +2
Lact.

GROUP
MAN
WOMAN
INFANTS
CHILDREN
BOYS
GIRLS
BOYS
GIRLS
BOYS
GIRLS
Category
Vit C (mg/day) Dietary Folate Vit. B12 (µg/Day)
(µg/day)
Revised Old Revised Old (FF) Revised Old
Sedentary
Moderate
Heavy
40 40 200 100 1 1
Sedentary
Moderate 40 40 200 100 1 1
Heavy
Pregnant 60 40 500 400 1.2 1
Lact.

MAN
GROUP CATEGORY Zinc (mg/Day) Magnesium (mg/Day)
WOMAN
Sedentary
Moderate
Heavy
Sedentary
Moderate
Heavy
Pregnant
Lact.