How are recommended intakes set, and how do dietary needs change across life and circumstance?
Dietary reference values and changing needs: dietary reference values (RNI, EAR, LRNI and safe intake); how nutritional needs change across the life stages; the dietary needs of specific groups, including pregnancy, infancy, adolescence, older adults, athletes, and those with allergies, intolerances or medical conditions.
An SQA Advanced Higher Health and Food Technology answer on dietary reference values and changing needs, covering RNI, EAR, LRNI and safe intake, how requirements change across the life stages, and the specific needs of pregnant women, infants, adolescents, older adults, athletes and people with allergies, intolerances or medical conditions.
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What this key area is asking
The SQA wants you to use dietary reference values correctly (what RNI, EAR, LRNI and safe intake each mean and when each is used) and then apply them: to explain how nutritional needs change across the life stages and to describe the particular needs of specific groups such as pregnant women, infants, adolescents, older adults, athletes and people with allergies, intolerances or medical conditions.
The dietary reference values
Energy uses the EAR, not the RNI, because setting energy at a level that satisfied almost everyone would give most people far more than they need, pushing the population into positive energy balance and obesity.
Why values are set for groups
DRVs are published for age and sex bands because individual needs vary with body size, activity, growth and health. They let dietitians plan institutional menus, let researchers judge whether a population's intake is adequate, and let manufacturers express a nutrient as a percentage of a reference amount on a label.
Changing needs across the life stages
The needs of specific groups
Common mistakes
Examples in context
Example 1. An adolescent girl. During the growth spurt she needs extra energy and protein, more calcium to build peak bone mass, and more iron to replace menstrual losses. If her iron intake drifts towards the LRNI she risks iron-deficiency anaemia, so iron-rich foods or fortified cereals are encouraged.
Example 2. A frail older adult. Energy needs have fallen with reduced activity, but protein, calcium and vitamin D needs remain to protect muscle and bone. A small appetite makes nutrient-dense foods important, so empty-energy snacks are replaced with dairy, oily fish and fortified foods.
Try this
Q1. Name the dietary reference value used to set energy requirements. [1 mark]
- Cue. The Estimated Average Requirement (EAR).
Q2. Explain why people with coeliac disease must follow a gluten-free diet. [2 marks]
- Cue. Gluten (in wheat, barley and rye) damages the gut lining in coeliac disease, reducing nutrient absorption, so it must be avoided completely.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA AH style5 marksExplain what is meant by the Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) and the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), and explain why dietary reference values are set for population groups rather than individuals.Show worked answer →
A 5-mark answer needs both definitions clearly distinguished, plus the population reasoning.
The Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) is the amount of a nutrient that is enough for almost everyone in a group, about 97.5%. An intake at the RNI means very few people will be short of that nutrient, so it is used for protein, vitamins and minerals.
The Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) is the amount that meets the needs of the average person in the group: about half will need more and half will need less. The EAR is used for energy, because setting energy at the RNI would push most people into positive energy balance.
Dietary reference values are set for groups (by age and sex) rather than individuals because needs vary from person to person; it is not practical to test everyone, so values give a benchmark for planning diets, assessing intakes and labelling foods at population level.
Markers reward (1) RNI meets almost everyone's needs, (2) EAR is the average with half above and half below, (3) energy uses EAR to avoid overfeeding, (4) needs vary between individuals, and (5) the values guide planning and assessment for groups.
SQA AH style4 marksDescribe how the dietary needs of a pregnant woman differ from those of a non-pregnant woman of the same age.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark answer needs specific nutrients with reasons, not just "she needs more food".
A pregnant woman needs more folate (folic acid), especially before conception and in early pregnancy, to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida in the baby.
She needs more iron to make extra haemoglobin for her increased blood volume and to build the baby's iron stores, and more calcium and vitamin D to build the baby's skeleton without depleting her own bones.
Energy needs rise only slightly and mainly in the last third of pregnancy, so "eating for two" is a myth; protein needs increase a little for the growth of the baby and the placenta.
Markers reward any four correct points, such as (1) more folate to prevent neural tube defects, (2) more iron for the extra blood volume, (3) more calcium and vitamin D for the baby's skeleton, and (4) only a small rise in energy late in pregnancy.
Related dot points
- Nutrient functions and energy balance: the functions and sources of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fibre and water; energy balance, basal metabolic rate, physical activity level and total energy expenditure; the consequences of positive and negative energy balance.
An SQA Advanced Higher Health and Food Technology answer on nutrient functions and energy balance, covering the roles and sources of the macronutrients and micronutrients, fibre and water, how basal metabolic rate and physical activity level combine into total energy expenditure, and the consequences of positive and negative energy balance.
- Diet-related conditions: the relationship between diet and coronary heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, dental caries, iron-deficiency anaemia, osteoporosis, hypertension and bowel disorders; the dietary changes that reduce risk and the dietary management of each condition.
An SQA Advanced Higher Health and Food Technology answer on diet-related conditions, covering how diet relates to coronary heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, dental caries, iron-deficiency anaemia, osteoporosis, hypertension and bowel disorders, and the dietary changes that reduce risk or manage each condition.
- Factors affecting food choice: physiological, psychological and lifestyle factors (income and budget, time and convenience, lifestyle and occupation, culture and religion, peer and family influence, advertising and marketing, health concerns, and the influence of technology and food trends) and how they interact to influence what consumers buy and eat.
An SQA Advanced Higher Health and Food Technology answer on the factors affecting food choice, covering income and budget, time and convenience, lifestyle and occupation, culture and religion, peer and family influence, advertising and marketing, health concerns and the influence of technology and food trends, and how they interact.
Sources & how we know this
- Advanced Higher Health and Food Technology Course Specification — SQA (2019)
- Advanced Higher Health and Food Technology (Course Code C836 77) — Planit (Skills Development Scotland) (2024)