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Recommended Dietary Allowances

The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) refer to the recommended daily levels of nutrients to meet the needs of nearly all healthy individuals in a particular age and gender group

Article last reviewed 15 November 2022
14 mins read

Recommended Dietary Allowances for Normal Healthy Persons in Singapore (Children & Adolescents)


Age Group	Height	Weight	Iron	Vit A (retinol) equiv.	Vit D	Thiamin	Riboflavin	Niacin Equiv
	(a)	(a)	(d),(e)	(f),(g)	(d),(h),(j)	(g)	(f)	(f),(i)
Units	cm	kg	mg	mcg	mcg	mg	mg	mg
3 - < 6 mths	-	7	7	300	10.0	0.28	0.42	4.6
6 - < 9 mths	-	8.5	7	300	10.0	0.32	0.49	5.3
9 - < 12 mths	-	9.5	7	300	10.0	0.38	0.57	6.3
1 - < 2 yrs	-	11	7	250	10.0	0.46	0.69	7.6
2 - < 3 yrs	-	13.5	7	250	10.0	0.54	0.81	8.9
3 - < 5 yrs	-	16.5	7	300	10.0	0.62	0.93	10.2
Boys
5 - < 7 yrs	-	20.5	7	300	10.0	0.74	1.11	12.2
7 - < 10 yrs	-	27	7	400	2.5	0.84	1.26	13.9
10 - < 12 yrs	144	34.5	7	575	2.5	0.88	1.32	14.5
12 - < 14 yrs	157	44	12	725	2.5	0.96	1.44	15.8
14 - < 16 yrs	168	55.5	12	725	2.5	1.06	1.59	17.5
16 - < 18 yrs	176	64	6	750	2.5	1.14	1.71	18.8
Girls
5 - < 7 yrs	-	20.5	7	300	10.5	0.70	1.05	11.6
7 - < 10 yrs	-	27	7	400	2.5	0.72	1.08	11.9
10 - < 12 yrs	145	36	7	575	2.5	0.78	1.17	12.9
12 - < 14 yrs	157	46.5	18	725	2.5	0.84	1.26	13.9
14 - < 16 yrs	161	52	18	725	2.5	0.86	1.29	14.2
16 - < 18 yrs	163	54	19	750	2.5	0.86	1.29	14.2

Recommended Dietary Allowances for Normal Healthy Persons in Singapore (Children & Adolescents)
Vitamin	Vit B12	Vit B6	Ascorbic Acid	Folic Acid
Unit	mcg	mg	mg	mcg
Age Group
0-6 mths	0.4	0.1	35	65
7-12 mths	0.5	0.3	45	80
1-2 years	0.9	0.5	35	150
3-6 years	1.1	0.6	50	200
Boys
7-12 years	1.8	1.0	70	300
13-18 years	2.4	1.4	105	350
Girls
7-12 years	1.8	1.0	65	300
13-18 years	2.2	1.2	80	350

RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCES FOR NORMAL HEALTHY PERSONS IN SINGAPORE (Adults)
			Men			Women
									Pregnant Women		Lactating women
Age Group			18 - < 30 yrs	30 - < 60 yrs	60 yrs and above	18 - < 30 yrs	30 - < 60 yrs	60 yrs and above	Full Activ ities	Reduc ed Activ ities	First 6 mths	After 6 mths
Ht	(a)	cm	170	170	170	160	160	160	-	-	-	-
Wt	(a)	kg	63.5	63.5	63.5	54	54	54	-	-	-	-
Iron	(d), (e)	mg	8	8	8	18	18	8	27	27	9	18
Vit A (retinol) equiv.	(f), (g)	mcg	750	750	750	750	750	750	750	750	1200	1200
Vit D	(d), (h), (j)	mcg	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	10.0	10.0	10.0	10.0
Thiamin	(g)	mg	1.18	1.16	0.98	0.84	0.86	0.80	+0.11	+0.08	+0.2	+0.2
Riboflavin	(f)	mg	1.77	1.74	1.47	1.26	1.29	1.20	+0.17	+0.12	+0.30	+0.30
Niacin Equiv.	(f), (i)	mg	19.5	19.1	16.2	13.9	14.2	13.2	+1.9	+1.3	+3.3	+3.3

RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCES FOR NORMAL HEALTHY PERSONS IN SINGAPORE (Adults)
		Men			Women
Age Group		19-50 years	51-65 years	>65 years	19-50 years	51-65 years	>65 years	Pregnant	Lactating
Vit B12	mcg	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.6	2.8
Vit B6	mg	1.3	1.7	1.7	1.3	1.5	1.5	1.9	2.0
Ascorbic Acid	mg	105	105	105	85	85	85	100	135
Folic Acid	mcg	400	400	400	400	400	400	600	500

RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCE FOR CALCIUM
Age Groups	RDA for Calcium
Infants (0 - 6 months, breast-fed)	300mg
Infants (0 - 6 months, formula-fed)	400mg
Infants (7 - less than 12 months)	400mg
Children (1 - 3 years)	500mg
Children (4 - 6 years)	600mg
Children (7 - 9 years)	700mg
Adolescents (10 - 18 years)	1,000mg
Adults (19 - 50 years)	800mg
Adults (51 years and above)	1,000mg
Breastfeeding / pregnant	1,000mg

Notes:
(a)	Energy and Protein Requirements. WHO Technical Repost Series No. 724, 1985. Kilojoules (kJ) are calculated from the relation, 1 kilocalorie = 4.18 kJ.
(b)	For infants, Net Protein Utilization (NPU) is taken as 80%. For all others, NPU is taken as 70%.
(c)	Calcium Requirements. Report of a FAO/WHO Expert Group, FAO, Rome, 1961.
(d)	Requirements of Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Folate and Iron. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Group, FAO, Rome, 1970. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium, and Zinc: a Report of the Panel of Micronutrients. Institute of Medicine. Food and Nutrition Board, 2001.
(e)	Values apply when 10-25% of energy in diet comes from animal foods.
(f)	Requirements of Vitamin A, Thiamin, Riboflavin and Niacin. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Group, FAO, Rome, 1965.
(g)	1 retinol equivalent = 1 mcg retinal of 6 mcg - carotene or 12 mcg biologically active carotenoids.
(h)	As cholecalciferol.
(i)	1 niacin equivalent = 1 mg available nicotinic acid or 60 mg tryptophan.
(j)	2.5mcg of Vitamin D is only applicable to Singapore, which is a tropical country and has strong sunlight exposure all year round.

Energy

Summary of Average Requirements for Energy (kcal/day) by Life Stage Group

Infants and young children

Age	Male	Female
1 month	410	370
2 months	480	430
3 months	590	540
4 months	530	480
5 months	570	520
6 months	600	560
7 months	620	570
8 months	650	590
9 months	670	620
10 months	690	630
11 months	680	640
12 months	740	640
1 year	880	810
2 years	1080	1000
3 years	1160	1070
4 years	1310	1190
5 years	1440	1320

Based on FAO/WHO/UNU 2004 equation and median Singapore weights (Source: Anthropometric Study on Pre-school Children in Singapore, National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, 2000)

Children and adolescents

Age	Male			Female
Age	Light physical activity	Moderate physical activity	Vigorous physical activity	Light physical activity	Moderate physical activity	Vigorous physical activity
6 years	1320	1550	1780	1210	1420	1630
7 years	1360	1600	1840	1280	1500	1730
8 years	1480	1740	2000	1380	1620	1860
9 years	1650	1940	2230	1500	1760	2020
10 years	1790	2110	2430	1620	1910	2200
11 years	1940	2280	2620	1760	2070	2380
12 years	2150	2530	2910	1900	2230	2570
13 years	2330	2740	3150	1960	2310	2660
14 years	2480	2920	3360	2010	2360	2710
15 years	2580	3030	3490	2030	2390	2750
16 years	2650	3120	3590	2040	2400	2760
17 years	2700	3180	3660	2040	2400	2760
18 years	2750	3230	3720	2050	2410	2770

Based on FAO/WHO/UNU 2004 equation and median Singapore weights (Source: Anthropometric Study on Pre-school Children in Singapore, National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, 2000)

Adults

Age	Male			Female
Age	Low active	Moderate active	Very Active	Low active	Moderate active	Very active
18-29 years	2280	2700	3720	1745	2070	2840
30-59 years	2185	2590	3560	1720	2035	2800
> 60 years	1885	2235	3070	1570	1865	2560

Based on Oxford equation (Henry, 2005) and NHS 2010 mean weights

Pregnancy

2^ndtrimester	+ 370
3^rdtrimester	+ 480

(FAO/WHO/UNU 2004)

Lactation

Up to 12 months

+ 500

(FAO/WHO/UNU 2004)

Examples of different activity levels:

Category	Description
Light physical activity	Individuals who spend several hours at school or in sedentary occupations Individuals who do not practise physical sports regularly Individuals who generally use motor vehicles for transportation Individuals who spend most leisure time in activities that require little physical effort (e.g. watching TV, reading, using computers)
Moderate physical activity	More strenuous than described for a light lifestyle, but not as demanding as a vigorous lifestyle as described below (e.g. individuals who work as kitchen staff or cleaners) Individuals who participate in regular leisure time activity, such as walking, cycling or gardening, for several hours each week
Vigorous physical activity	Individuals who walk or ride bicycles every day over long distances Individuals who practise sports or exercise that demand a high level of physical effort for several hours, several days of the week Individuals who engage in energy-demanding occupations or perform energy-demanding chores for several hours each day(e.g. heavy industrial work, construction work or farming)

Adapted from FAO/WHO/UNU, 2004 and Hall KD, Sacks G, Chandramohan D, Chow CC, Wang YC, Gortmaker SL, Swinburn BA. Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight. Lancet. 2011 Aug 27;378(9793):826-37.

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Recommended Dietary Allowances

Recommended Dietary Allowances for Normal Healthy Persons in Singapore (Children & Adolescents)

Recommended Dietary Allowances for Normal Healthy Persons in Singapore (Children & Adolescents)

RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCES FOR NORMAL HEALTHY PERSONS IN SINGAPORE (Adults)

RECOMMENDED DIETARY ALLOWANCES FOR NORMAL HEALTHY PERSONS IN SINGAPORE (Adults)