A new approach to establishing dietary energy reference values

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Human Physiology
• Dietary Guidelines

Background:

• Predicting total energy expenditure (TEE) based on physical activity levels (PALs) is challenging due to significant individual variations in activity.
• Previous methods using basal metabolic rate (BMR) and PALs lacked accuracy for diverse populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline the methodology for the updated UK Dietary Recommendations for Energy.
• To establish a more accurate and applicable model for estimating energy requirements.

Main Methods:

• Utilized doubly labelled water (DLW) data from large urban population studies (n=929 adults) and published pediatric studies (n=170 studies, 2502 children) to derive PAL values.
• Calculated TEE using anthropometric determinants of BMR and derived PAL values.
• Determined estimated average requirement (EAR) values based on healthy body weights (BMI 22.5 kg/m² for adults) and pediatric reference growth data.

Main Results:

• Developed a simplified approach to derive PAL values using population median, 25th, and 75th centiles from DLW data.
• Modeled energy costs for tissue deposition as a 1% increase in PALs for children across age groups.
• Established a new model for calculating EAR values applicable to diverse populations.

Conclusions:

• The developed model for calculating estimated average requirement (EAR) is simplified and broadly applicable.
• This methodology provides a more robust framework for national dietary energy recommendations.