Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for magnesium

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) derived Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) for magnesium. The Panel considers that Average Requirements (ARs) and Population Reference Intakes (PRIs) for magnesium cannot be derived for adults, infants or children, and therefore defines Adequate Intakes (AIs), based on observed intakes in healthy populations in the European Union (EU). This approach considers the range of average magnesium intakes estimated by EFSA from dietary surveys in children and adults in nine EU countries. For adults, an AI for magnesium is set at 350 mg/day for men and 300 mg/day for women. For children aged 1 to < 3 years, an AI for magnesium is set at 170 mg/day for both sexes. For children aged 3 to < 10 years, an AI for magnesium is set at 230 mg/day for both sexes. For children aged 10 to < 18 years, an AI for magnesium is set at 300 mg/day for boys and 250 mg/day for girls. For infants aged 7-11 months, an AI for magnesium of 80 mg/day is derived by extrapolating upwards from the estimated magnesium intake in exclusively breast-fed infants aged 0-6 months and by considering observed average intakes in the few surveys for which data are available. For pregnant and lactating women, the Panel considers that there is no evidence for an increased need for magnesium, and the same AI is set for them as for non-pregnant, non-lactating women.