Daily Requirements for Vitamins and Minerals

Adults and children need specific vitamins and minerals. These nutrients help people stay healthy and strong enough to fight sickness when it occurs. How much a person takes depends on several factors: age and health. The daily requirements for vitamin and mineral intake vary for these important reasons.

Vitamins

The body needs 13 specific vitamins to be healthy. These vitamins influence every system in the body, including the immune, cardiovascular and intestinal. Adults need more than children when it comes to the daily requirement for vitamin intake.

Examples of adult daily requirements:

• Vitamin A: Men over age 19 require 900 mcg per day. Women over age 19 need 700 mcg per day. The numbers rise during pregnancy and lactation, but should be determined by a woman's doctor.


• Vitamin D: Men and women over 19 require 15 mcg.

Examples of children daily requirements:

• Vitamin A: Toddler ages 2-3 should have 300 mcg per day. Kids age 4-8 require 400 mcg and kids 9-13 require 600 mcg.


• Vitamin D: Children ages newborn to 12 months need 400 mcg. Children age 1 year to age 18 need 600 mcg.

Minerals

Everyone needs minerals for bone, organ and tissue function. People need two types of minerals: trace and macro. Trace minerals include copper and iron. Macro minerals include sodium and phosphorus.

The daily requirements for adults include:

• Magnesium: Males ages 19-30 require 400 mcg. Females need 310 mcg per day.


• Selenium: Male and females over age 19 need 55 mcg per day.

The daily requirements for kids include:

• Magnesium: Males and females ages 4-8 require 130 mcg per day.


• Selenium: Males and females ages 9-13 require 40 mcg per day.