Persons who may have increased needs for thiamin include those being treated with hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis, individuals with malabsorption syndrome, women carrying more than one fetus, and lactating women who are nursing more than one infant.

Data obtained from the 1995 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals indicate that the greatest contribution to thiamin intake of the U.S. adult population comes from the following enriched, fortified, or whole-grain products: bread and bread products, mixed foods whose main ingredient is grain, and ready-to-eat cereals (Table 4-3). Small differences are seen in the contributions of various foods to the overall thiamin intake of men and women. Other sources include pork and ham products and cereals and meat substitutes fortified with vitamins.

Data from nationally representative surveys during the past decade (Appendixes G and H) indicate that the median daily intake of thiamin in the United States by young men was approximately 2 mg and the median intake by young women was approximately 1.2 mg daily. For all life stage and gender groups except lactating females, fewer than 5 percent of the individuals had intakes that were lower than the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR). Five to 10 percent of lactating females had intakes lower than the EAR. Results from Canadian surveys indicate that thiamin intakes in two Canadian provinces were slightly lower than U.S. intakes for both men and women (Appendix I).

The Boston Nutritional Status Survey (Appendix F) indicates that this relatively advantaged group of people over age 60 had a median thiamin intake of 1.4 mg/day for men and 1.1 mg/day for women.

Information from the Boston Nutritional Status Survey conducted on the use of thiamin supplements by a free-living elderly population is given in Appendix F. For those taking supplements, the fifti-