Nutrient Requirements And Recommended Dietary Allowances For Indians by Indian Council of Medical Research

In India, the first attempt to define nutrient requirements and desirable dietary intakes of nutrients for Indians to maintain good health was made by the Nutrition Advisory Committee of the Indian Research Fund Association [Now Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)] in 1944 (1.1). This followed the recommendations made by the Technical Committee of the Health Committee, League of Nations in 1936 (1.2), Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council, USA, 1944 (1.3) and Report of the Committee of Nutrition, British Medical Association 1933 (1.4). At that time, requirement and allowances of only energy, protein, iron, calcium, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, ascorbic acid and vitamin D for Indians were considered. Considering these recommendations of nutrients, a typical balanced diet based on habitual Indian dietary habits was formulated to provide all the nutrients for a normal adult man of 55 kg and a normal adult woman of 45 kg body weight (1.5). This was used to demonstrate that the diet then consumed by Indians, particularly by the poor, was deficient in several nutrients and could be improved by inclusion of some protective foods.

Link : http://icmr.nic.in/final/rda-2010.pdf