[17.6 mmol]/L based on 676 kcal/L). The current regulation for chloride content for infant formula is a minimum 55 mg/100 kcal (≈ 0.37 g [10.4 mmol]/L based on 676 kcal/L) to a maximum 150 mg/100 kcal (≈ 1.0 g [28.6 mmol]/L based on 676 kcal/L) (FDA, 1985).

There is no reason to expect that the sodium requirements of children ages 1 through 18 years would be fundamentally different than that of adults given that maturation of kidneys is similar in normal children by age 12 months of age (Seikaly and Arant, 1992). Thus even young children have the ability to conserve sodium in the face of low levels of dietary sodium.

As for adults, an EAR could not be established because of inadequate data from dose-response studies. Hence an AI was set. Given that little data are available indicating that in normal children, inadequate sodium intakes result in specific identifiable markers, and that, as with adults, normal kidney function can maintain sodium balance at extremes of sodium intake, the AI is set based on meeting nutrient needs for other essential nutrients. The AI is thus extrapolated down from the adult AI of 1.5 g/day (65 mmol/day) using relative energy intake, that is, the average of median energy intake levels of the age groups for adults and for children as the basis for extrapolation (see Chapter 2). Relative energy levels are chosen as the method of extrapolation because the AI for adults is based on an intake of sodium from foods found in the Western diet, which allows for consumption of an adequate diet for other required nutrients.

Based on data from the CFSII, the median energy intake for 1- to 3- and 4- to 8-year-old children in the United States was estimated to be 1,372 and 1,757 kcal/day, respectively (IOM, 2002). Median energy intakes for preadolescent (9 to 13 years) and adolescent (14 to 18 years) boys and girls ranged from 1,877 to 2,226 and 1,872 to 2,758 kcal/day, respectively, and thus were near or within the adult range (1,727 to 2,718 kcal/day). Therefore, their AI is the same as that for adults.

Given the estimated adult median intake value of approximately 2,150 kcal, the value for children 1 to 3 years of age is 1.0 g (42 mmol)/day (1,372 kcal ÷ 2,150 kcal × 1.5 g/day) after rounding.