New Recommendations for Energy Intake

The official requirements for energy (calories) should be increased for most of the population, according to the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN).

The recently released draft report recommends the following changes in the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR):

• Teenage boys ( increase by up to 9%)
• Teenage girls ( increase by up to 15%)
• All adults ( increase by up to 16%).

SACN has conducted a thorough evaluation of the latest evidence – there are 785 references to other scientific papers! So although the report has been released in draft and will be subject to consultation it is virtually certain that the recommendations will be ratified.

The most significant finding is that the previous evaluation conducted by SACN’s predecessor COMA (Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy) underestimated the levels of activity. Because the level of activity is a critical determinant of the energy requirement it follows that the recommendation in the 1991 COMA report were too low and therefore will need to be increased.

The official recommendation for energy intake has enormous implications for food and nutrition policies.

First of all,  the Healthy Eating Guidelines for nutrients such as fat and sugar are expressed in terms of the energy intake.

Secondly, energy intake is a key factor in the provision of information for the public such as the Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs).  The Traffic Lights will be thrown into chaos. Some foods currently classed as red may no longer meet the criteria and will now be amber.

Thirdly, regulations such as those which relate to the Nutrient Standards for School lunches are completely undermined because the foundations on which they are based have been shattered.

The SACN report recognises that physical activity plays an important role in the maintenance of good health and that if people are active their energy requirement will have to increase.

Recent experience has demonstrated that when information on Healthy Eating is conveyed to the public in terms of nutrients the result is invariably chaos and confusion.

If we really are to make progress in this area then the approach must be provide the advice in terms that are easily understood by most people.

Essentially this means the emphasis must be on foods NOT nutrients.