Recommended Nutrient Intake for Dietary Fibre: Bar Set Too High for Malaysians?
- Author:
Ng TKW
;
Chow SSF
;
Chan LPY
;
Lee CYM
;
Lim SQ
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Dietary fibre, minimum requirement, Recommended Nutrient Intake
- From:
Malaysian Journal of Nutrition
2010;16(2):271-280
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
This article presents findings from three separate data sets on food consumption in apparently healthy Malaysian adult males and females aged 22-60 years, and
secondary data extracted from the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) 2003. Assessment of food intake by 24-hour recall or the food diary method and
use of the nutrient calculator- DietPLUS- to quantify intake of macronutrients and dietary fibre (DF) in the primary data, revealed low mean DF intakes of
10.7±1.0 g/day (Course participants, n=52), 15.6 ±1.2 (University sample, n=103), and 16.1 ±6.1 (Research Institute staff, n=25). An alarmingly high proportion of
subjects (75 to 95%) in these three data sets did not meet the national population intake goal of 20-30 g DF/day. A list of 39 food items which contain fibre,
extracted from the MANS 2003 report as being average amounts consumed daily by each Malaysian adult, provided 19.2 g DF which meant that >50% of Malaysian
adults consumed less than the recommended DF intake of 20-30 g/day. This large deficit of actual intake versus recommended intakes is not new and is also
observed in developed western nations. What is of great concern is that the preliminary findings presented in this article indicate that the national population
goal of 20-30 g DF/day may be beyond the habitual diets of the majority of Malaysians. Appropriately, the authors propose the inclusion of a daily minimum
requirement for DF intake in the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines, which would somewhat mimic the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 1999 for dietary fat, as well
as the stand taken by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) of the United Kingdom. This minimum requirement, if agreed to, should not be
higher than the 16 g DF or so provided by the hypothetical ‘high-fibre’ healthy diet exemplified in this article.
- Full text:W020150713549844559155.pdf
