cent of children 4 through 8 years of age are estimated to have usual intake less than the requirement.

Mean or median intakes of nutrients with EARs seldom, if ever, can be used to assess adequacy or excessive intake of group diets. The prevalence of inadequacy depends on the shape and variation of the usual intake distribution, not on mean intake. For food energy, however, mean intake relative to the EAR is a possible measure to use in assessing the adequacy of group diets. Because there is a high correlation between energy intake and energy expenditure (requirement), median intake of food energy should be close to the requirement for there to be low risk of inadequate or excessive intake.

Caution also is necessary when interpreting descriptive statistics for nutrients with an AI. When mean usual intake of a group exceeds the AI the expected prevalence of inadequate intake is low. When mean usual nutrient intake of a group is less than the AI, however, nothing can be inferred about the probability of inadequacy (see Chapter 5).

In short, comparing mean intake either to the EAR or RDA or simply looking at mean intake levels should not be used to assess or imply relative nutrient adequacy.

Research studies often focus either on differences in nutrient intake for population subgroups or on the relationship between certain factors and nutrient intakes. Such studies are simply extensions of the dietary survey applications discussed above. They typically use both descriptive and multiple regression analyses to examine

Front Matter (R1-R14)

Contents (R15-R18)

Summary (1-18)

I. Historical Perspective and Background (19-20)

1 Introduction and Background (21-28)

2 Current Uses of Dietary Reference Standards (29-42)

II. Application of DRIs for Individual Diet Assessment (43-44)

3 Using Dietary Reference Intakes for Nutrient Assessment of Individuals (45-70)

III. Application of DRIs for Group Diet Assessment (71-72)

4 Using the Estimated Average Requirement for Nutrient Assessment of Groups (73-105)

5 Using the Adequate Intake for Nutrient Assessment of Groups (106-112)

6 Using the Tolerable Upper Intake Level for Nutrient Assessment of Groups (113-126)

7 Specific Applications: Assessing Nutrient Intakes of Groups Using the Dietary Reference Intakes (127-144)

IV. Fine-Tuning Dietary Assessment Using the DRIs (145-146)

8 Minimizing Potential Errors in Assessing Group and Individual Intakes (147-161)

9 Research Recommended to Improve the Uses of Dietary Reference Intakes (162-167)

10 References (168-178)

Appendix A: Origin and Framework of the Development of Dietary Reference Intakes (179-184)

Appendix B: Nutrient Assessment of Individuals: Statistical Foundations (185-202)

Appendix C: Assessing Prevalence of Inadequate Intakes for Groups: Statistical Foundations (203-210)

Appendix D: Assessing the Performance of the EAR Cut-Point Method for Estimating Prevalence (211-231)

Appendix E: Units of Observation: Assessing Nutrient Adequacy Using Household and Population Data (232-238)

Appendix F: Rationale for Setting Adequate Intakes (239-253)

Appendix G: Glossary and Abbreviations (254-261)

Appendix H: Biographical Sketches of Subcommittee Members (262-266)

Index (267-281)

Summary Table: Estimated Average Requirements (282-283)

Summary Table: Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (284-286)

Summary Table: Recommended Intakes for Individuals (287-289)