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DRI DIETARY REFERENCE INTAKES FOR Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, and Carotenoids
Vitamin C EAR and RDA Summary, Ages 1 through 18 Years
EAR for Children
1–3 years
13 mg (74 µmol)/day of vitamin C
4–8 years
22 mg (125 µmol)/day of vitamin C
EAR for Boys
9–13 years
39 mg (222 µmol)/day of vitamin C
14–18 years
63 mg (358 µmol)/day of vitamin C
EAR for Girls
9–13 years
39 mg (222 µmol)/day of vitamin C
14–18 years
56 mg (318 µmol)/day of vitamin C
The RDA for vitamin C is set by assuming a coefficient of variation (CV) of 10 percent (see Chapter 1) because information is not available on the standard deviation of the requirement for vitamin C; the RDA is defined as equal to the EAR plus twice the CV to cover the needs of 97 to 98 percent of the individuals in the group (therefore, for vitamin C the RDA is 120 percent of the EAR). The calculated values for RDAs have been rounded to the nearest 5 mg.
RDA for Children
1–3 years
15 mg (85 µmol)/day of vitamin C
4–8 years
25 mg (142 µmol)/day of vitamin C
RDA for Boys
9–13 years
45 mg (256 µmol)/day of vitamin C
14–18 years
75 mg (426 µmol)/day of vitamin C
RDA for Girls
9–13 years
45 mg (256 µmol)/day of vitamin C
14–18 years
65 mg (370 µmol)/day of vitamin C
Adults Ages 19 through 50 Years
Evidence Considered in Estimating the Average Requirement
Although it is known that the classic disease of severe vitamin C deficiency, scurvy, is rare in the United States and Canada, other human experimental data that can be utilized to set a vitamin C requirement, based on a biomarker other than scurvy, are limited. Values recommended here are based on an amount of vitamin C that is thought to provide antioxidant protection as derived from the correlation of such protection with neutrophil ascorbate concentrations.
It is recognized that there are no human data to quantify directly the dose-response relationship between vitamin C intake and in vivo
