Recommended Caloric Intake At Meals

Calories are the energy in food that helps individuals function throughout the day. How many calories you consume each day, in conjunction with how many calories you burn through physical activity, affects weight maintenance or weight loss. Calorie needs vary with age, gender and health status.

About Calorie Balance

Calorie balance involves balancing the calories consumed with the calories burned through daily functions and physical activity. The more physically active you are, the more calories you require to maintain your weight. Children and pregnant women also require more calories each day since the body requires more energy for development. It takes 3,500 calories to create a pound of body weight. By creating a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day through cutting calories or increasing daily physical activity, you can lose 1 lb. each week.

Calories Recommended for Children

Between the ages of 2 and 3 years, children require between 1,000 and 1,400 calories daily, according to the Baylor College of Medicine. This daily caloric intake increases to about 1,400 to 1,600 calories daily for children aged 4 to 8 years, and 1,600 to 2,200 calories daily for children 9 to 13 years old. The calorie intake needs of children level off during the teenage years due to the slowing of the rate of growth and development after puberty.

Calories Recommended for Adults

The average adult should consume about 2,000 calories each day. According to MedlinePlus, the lowest recommended daily calorie intake for men is 1,500 calories, while the lowest recommended daily calorie intake for women is 1,200 calories. This lowest recommended calorie intake is the amount of calories needed to sustain normal bodily processes each day. Consuming below this amount could lead to deprivation of important nutrients unless a health care professional approves such a low-calorie diet. The number of calories you need each day is based on your level of physical activity. You can determine the number by visiting a dietitian or using an online calorie-determining resource like the one at MayoClinic.com.

Intake of Older Adults

As you age, you require fewer calories each day. According to the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, this decreased caloric need is associated with the age-associated decrease in physical activity of older adults. Those above the age of 50 may require between 300 and 600 fewer calories per day than their younger counterparts.

Special Groups Calorie Needs

Pregnant women and breastfeeding women require an extra 200 to 500 calories per day to account for the caloric needs of the developing baby and the production of healthy breast milk, respectively. People recovering from surgery or acute physical stress such as an infection or disease may need to consume additional calories each day while they recover to support the extra energy the body needs to heal.