Recommended Dietary Allowance for School Children

Recommended Dietary Allowance for School Children. School children need nutrients every day, which are obtained from a variety of foods and drinks that are used as a source of energy, growth, replacing damaged cells, and to maintain health. Basically there are 6 kinds of nutrients, namely carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water.

Adequacy of nutrition for school children aged 10-12 years is relatively greater than school children aged 7-9 years, because growth is relatively fast, especially in addition to height. In addition to age, gender also affects the adequacy of nutrients. There are differences in growth between the sexes from the age of 10 years so that the nutritional adequacy of boys is different from girls.

The government has determined the adequacy of these nutrients in the form of adequate nutrition figures or Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). RDA is a sufficient number of nutrients every day according to age, sex, body size and physical activity to prevent malnutrition or over nutrition. The 2012 RDA for school children is listed in Table 1. The RDA for Indonesians consists of: energy; protein; fat, carbohydrate, water; fiber; The 14 types of vitamins include vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, biotin, choline and vitamin C; and 13 types of minerals including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, iodine, zinc, copper, chromium, selenium, manganese, and fluorine.

Table 1: RDA for Children Aged 7-9 Years and Ages 10-12 Years.

Nutritional Substances      Unit    7-9 years old   10-12 years old

                                                                                 Male    Female

Energy                                 kkal        1850              2100     2000

Protein                                  g            49                  56         60

Total Fat                               g            72                  70         67

1.    n-6 (omega 6)                g            10,0               12,0     10,0

9.    n-3 (omega 3)                g            0,9                 1,2       1,0

Carbohydrate                        g            254                289      275

Fiber                                     g            26                   30        28

Water                                    mL        1900              1800    1800

Vitamin               

    Vitamin A                         mcg        500               600      600

    Vitamin D                         mcg        15                   15      15

    Vitamin E                         mg           7                    11       11

    Vitamin K                         mcg        25                   35       35

    Vitamin B1 (tiamin)         mg          0,9                  1,1      1,0

    Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)    mg          1,1                  1,3     1,2

    Vitamin B3 (Niasin)         mg          10                    12       11

    Pant Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5)   

                                              mg          3,0                  4,0      4,0

    Vitamin B6 (Piridoksin)   mg          1,0                   1,3      1,2

    Folate (Vitamin B9)          mcg        300                  400    400

    Vitamin B12                     mcg        1,2                    1,8     1,8

    Biotin                                mcg        12                     20      20

    Choline                              mg         375                   375     375

    Vitamin C                          mg         45                     50      50

Mineral               

    Calcium                             mg        1000                 1200    1200

    Flour                                  mg        1000                 1200    1200

    Phosphorus                        mg        500                   1200    1200

    Magnesium                        mg        120                   150      155

    Sodium/Natrium                mg        1200                 1500    1500

    Potassium                           mg        4500                 4500    4500

    Manganese                         mg        1,7                    1,9        1,6

    Copper                               mg        570                   700      700

    Chromium                         mcg        20                    25         21

    Iron                                    mg        10                      13        20

    Iodine                                mcg        120                  120      120

    Zinc                                   mg        11                      14         13

    Selenium                           mcg        20                     20        20

    Flour                                  mg        1,2                     1,7         1,9

In practice in the community the application of the RDA requires a portion size of food to assess and design food consumption of school children. Estimated amount of energy (kcal) in food portion in household size can be seen in Appendix 2.

Meeting the nutritional needs in a day can be done by consuming 3 (three) large meals (rice, animal side dishes, vegetable side dishes, fruits and vegetables) and 2 (two) times a snack (snack).