Historical Overview of the Establishment of Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese

Abstract

Although nutritional standards for Japanese were published by national organizations until the 1940s, the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for Japanese was officially established in 1969 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (presently Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). These RDAs were revised every five years until 2005, when they were established as Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese (DRIs-J). The nutrients included in RDAs and DRIs-J were changed according to the health condition and eating habits of Japanese. The current version, DRIs-J 2010, comprises reference values for energy and 34 nutrients.