Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Calcium

Recommended Intakes

Intake recommendations for calcium and other nutrients are provided in the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) developed by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (formerly National Academy of Sciences) [1]. DRI is the general term for a set of reference values used for planning and assessing the nutrient intakes of healthy people. These values, which vary by age and gender, include:

• Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97%–98%) healthy individuals.
• Adequate Intake (AI): established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA and is set at a level assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy.
• Estimated Average Requirement (EAR): average daily level of intake estimated to meet the requirements of 50% of healthy individuals. It is usually used to assess the adequacy of nutrient intakes in populations but not individuals.
• Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects [1].

The FNB established RDAs for the amounts of calcium required for bone health and to maintain adequate rates of calcium retention in healthy people. They are listed in Table 1 in milligrams (mg) per day.

Table 1: Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Calcium [1]

Age	Male	Female	Pregnant	Lactating
0–6 months*	200 mg	200 mg
7–12 months*	260 mg	260 mg
1–3 years	700 mg	700 mg
4–8 years	1,000 mg	1,000 mg
9–13 years	1,300 mg	1,300 mg
14–18 years	1,300 mg	1,300 mg	1,300 mg	1,300 mg
19–50 years	1,000 mg	1,000 mg	1,000 mg	1,000 mg
51–70 years	1,000 mg	1,200 mg
71+ years	1,200 mg	1,200 mg

* Adequate Intake (AI)

1. Committee to Review Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin D and Calcium, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2010.