Health and Recommended Dietary Allowances in 1887

Abstract

It has been considered that the first Japanese recommended dietary allowances announced officially in 1926. But we are introducing another report which can be believed to have been earlier recommendation than the former one . The report appeared in the bulletin of the Institute of Hygiene, Vol.2, published by the Department of Hygiene, Ministry of Home Affairs . In this report, the authors, Ryojun Tahara and Katsusaburo Suda, established?gproper diets for health?h(?gHoken Shokuryo?h), which meant recommended dietary allowances at that time . The?gproper diets for health?hwas established on the basis of the standard of Prof. Voit, Munchen University, with due regard to Japanese own dietary practice and Japanese people's body weights. It advocated that Japanese need 96gm protein , 20gm fat, and 450gm carbohydrate per capita per day. They reported also how to utilize this recommendation as an index for the evaluation of the nutritional survey in various types of work . Furthermore, they made an example of food constitution table, that was named“standard diets”, on the basis of the“proper diets for health”for the purpose of education to laymen. In some occasion, sample foods were shown in the institution as an activity of nutritional education . In the last paragraph of the report, they mentioned that the aim of this establishment of" proper diets for health"has recommended dietary allowances was racial eugenics for the Japanese to follow the western countries.