discussed. Therefore, they were not considered in setting an EAR. The Total Diet Study indicates a median intake of 1.48 mg/day for children aged 4 through 8 years. Median intakes for girls and boys, ages 9 through 13 years, were 1.57 and 1.91 mg/day, respectively (Appendix Table E-6).

Ages 14 through 18 Years. A few studies have been conducted to assess the manganese requirement in adolescent girls. Adolescent girls were observed to be in negative (Greger et al., 1978a) or slight positive balance (Greger et al., 1978b) when consuming 3 mg/day of manganese. These varied findings in adolescent girls may be due to a variation in iron status given that a significant negative association between manganese absorption and plasma ferritin concentrations has been reported recently (Finley, 1999). Because of the limitations of balance data, as previously discussed, these data were not used to set the EAR.

The Total Diet Study indicates that the median manganese intake for adolescent girls and boys was 1.55 and 2.17 mg/day, respectively (Appendix Table E-6). Because clear associations between low manganese intake and clinical symptoms of a manganese deficiency have not been observed, the AI is based on median intakes for each of the age groups.

Because a wide range of manganese intakes can result in manganese balance, balance data could not be used to set an EAR. Several