| FoodCount.com allows you to personalize your caloric and nutritional goals. If you do not set your own goal, the default goal will be Recommended Dietary Allowance for your age and gender. To personalize your goal, click on the "customize" link after you have input a daily diet. |
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For older children, teens, and adults:
1,600 calories is about right for many sedentary women and some older adults.
2,200 calories is about right for most children, teenage girls, active women, and many sedentary men. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding may need somewhat more.
2,800 calories is about right for teenage boys, many active men, and some very active women.
For young children:
Preschool children need the same variety of foods as older family memebers do, but many need less than 1,600 calories. It is hard to know how much children need to grow normally. If you are unsure, check with the child's doctor.
Another Way to Calculate your Caloric Needs
You can roughly estimate your daily calorie requirements using this simple formula:
• For sedentary people: Weight x 14 = estimated cal/day
• For moderately active people: Weight x 17 = estimated cal/day
• For active people: Weight x 20 = estimated cal/day
Note: Moderately Active is defined as 3-4 aerobic sessions per week. Active is defined as 5-7 aerobic sessions per week.
Sources: Ruth Lahmayer MS, RD, "How Low Should Calories Go?", IDEA Today, September 1989 American Council on Exercise, Personal Trainer Manual: The Resource For Fitness Instructors, (Boston, MA: Reebok University Press, 1991)
