How to balance the diet? Expert Interpretation of Reference Intake of Dietary Nutrients for China Residents (2023 Edition)
On October 26th, an exclusive interview with DRIs was held in Beijing.
Yang Yuexin, Chairman of China DRIs Revision Expert Committee and Chairman of China Nutrition Society, Ma Aiguo, Deputy Chairman of the Revision Committee and Executive Vice Chairman of China Nutrition Society, Ding Gangqiang, Deputy Chairman of the Revision Committee, Secretary of the Party Committee of China Nutrition Society and Director of the Institute of Nutrition and Health of China CDC, Yang Xiaoguang, Vice Chairman of China Nutrition Society and researcher of the Institute of Nutrition and Health of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Peng Xianwu, the supporting unit of DRIs revision and general manager of Amway (China) Science and Technology Innovation Center, attended the interview and interpreted the new revision.
Yang Yuexin introduced that the 2023 edition of China DRIs is the ninth edition. The revised expert committee and technical working group composed of nearly 100 nutrition experts lasted for three years. Based on the four basic principles of scientificity, advancement, integrity and continuity, the different reference intakes of 20 age groups including energy, nutrients and other dietary ingredients and pregnant women and lactating mothers totaled more than 70 nutrients and other dietary ingredients, which were revised and confirmed, and were held at the 14th Asian Nutrition Conference in September 2023.
The revision of DRIs in 2023 mainly includes four aspects. First, the concepts and procedures have been improved and perfected. Different procedures for determining different reference values of nutrients have been newly formulated, and the technical points of each link of the formulation procedures have been uniformly determined. The concepts and connotations of recommended intake and specific recommended values for reducing the risk of diet-related non-communicable diseases have been further clarified and improved. Secondly, the basic reference values of China population were formulated and revised, including age grouping, representative weight, reference value of breast milk composition, recommended weight gain of pregnant women, PAL of physical activity level, etc. Thirdly, the new research results of nutrients and other dietary components in the past decade at home and abroad in the fields of function, evaluation, requirement, safety and prevention of chronic diseases have been included, and more research results targeting China residents have been included. Fourth, from the writing framework, format and other styles, it highlights the positioning of reference books centered on quantitative values.
Peng Xianwu believes that this revision has far-reaching guiding significance for the big health industry, such as the data of newly added plant nutrients such as coenzyme Q10 and Lycium barbarum polysaccharide, and the quantification of nutrients such as proanthocyanidins, which will help Amway and industry to develop products and guide consumers to use them.
Peng Xianwu introduced that in 2022, Amway and China Nutrition Society established Nutrilite Special Fund for Plant Functional Components and Health Research, aiming at attracting more research institutions and personnel to participate in the research direction of plant nutrients, opening up production, learning and research, transforming research results into products faster, and making more scientific research results benefit the public.
This revision has greatly changed the protein intake of the elderly and the calcium supplement standard for adults. Yang Xiaoguang believes that China has entered an aging society, and the elderly and ordinary people can’t meet the demand for protein, which is easy to lead to sarcopenia. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the dietary structure of the elderly and increase the intake of protein. Yang Xiaoguang introduced: "The 2023 edition of DRIs revised the requirement of protein for the elderly aged 65 and above in China, and its recommended intake increased from 0.98 g/(kg day) to 1.17 g/(kg day), which is an important achievement".
Ding Gangqiang said that in recent years, the health awareness of Chinese residents has been continuously strengthened, and dietary nutrition and healthy behaviors have been continuously formed, but chronic diseases related to nutrition are still increasing. It is hoped that the release of the 2023 edition of DRIs will further guide the needs of China residents in all aspects of dietary nutrition, especially how to achieve a reasonable and balanced diet, and complete the objectives of the second largest action of Healthy China Action-Reasonable Diet Action.
The revision of DRIs has a wide range of significance and value. First, it has scientific value, which determines the types and quantities of nutrients that each person should consume every day qualitatively and quantitatively. Second, social value is an important basic data support for formulating relevant policies, regulations and standards; The third is the value of technical support, which plays an important guiding role in the dietary design and evaluation of collective feeding units such as schools and nursing homes, the nutrition labeling of prepackaged foods, and the product research and development of food enterprises.