Ideal weight now 5kg more

  • The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has added another 5kg to the ideal weight of Indians.

  • While the weight of an ideal or reference Indian man was 60kg in 2010, it has now increased to 65kg. In case of women, it has gone up to 55kg from 50kg a decade ago.

  • The earlier height for a reference Indian man was 5.6 feet (171cm) and a woman was 5 feet (152cm).

  • It is now revised to 5.8 feet (177cm) for a man and 5.3 feet (162cm) for a woman.

  • This will now be taken for normal body mass index (BMI).

  • The scientists said this was because nutritional food intake had gone up.

  • Also, data from rural and urban areas was taken into account this time as against only urban data 10 years ago.

  • A premier nutrition research body of the Indian Council of Medical Research, NIN has also revised its recommended dietary allowance (RDA) and estimated average requirement (EAR) of nutrition for Indians in its 2020 report.

  • The definition for reference Indian adult man and woman with regard to age was changed to 19-39 years instead of 20-39 years, which was fixed in 2010.

  • The scientists said this was because nutritional food intake had gone up.

  • Also, data from rural and urban areas was taken into account this time as against only urban data 10 years ago.

  • A premier nutrition research body of the Indian Council of Medical Research, NIN has also revised its recommended dietary allowance (RDA) and estimated average requirement (EAR) of nutrition for Indians in its 2020 report.

  • The definition for reference Indian adult man and woman with regard to age was changed to 19-39 years instead of 20-39 years, which was fixed in 2010.

    • The 2020 panel took data from all over India, taking into account

    ○National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16),

    ○National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (2015-16),

    ○World Health Organisation (2006-07) and

    ○the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (2015) to derive the reference body weight values.

  • ICMR expert committee on nutrition considered recommendations for fibre based on energy intake.

  • About 40grams per 2,000 kilo calories of food consumption has been considered as safe.

  • The visible fat intake for individuals with sedentary, moderate and heavy activity has been set at 25, 30 and 40 grams per day, respectively, for an adult man and 20, 25 and 30 grams per day, respectively, for an adult woman.
  • Estimated average requirement and also the tolerable upper limit of nutrients along with recommended dietary allowance.
  • The calcium requirement proposed as RDA for an adult man and an adult woman is 1,000mg per day. It was 600mg per day in 2010.
  • For a lactating woman, an additional amount of 200mg is added.
  • Common salt intake remains at 5 grams per day with the sodium intake limited to 2 grams. An intake of 3,510mg potassium is recommended per day.