Suggested Caloric Intake For Women

If you're a woman whose caloric intake matches your caloric needs, you enjoy a healthy body weight most of the time. Your body requirements change over time, however, determined in part by age, activity level and reproductive status. The USDA recommends an average 1,600 to 2,400 calories a day for healthy body function in adult women of various life stages and levels of activity. Your doctor can help you determine an appropriate daily calorie limit.

Caloric Balance

Normal neurological and muscular activity and dedicated exercise deplete calories. At the proper weight, your caloric output from activity will be equal to your consumption of calories from food. If you eat more calories than you expend, the body will store the excess as fat tissue, and you'll gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you expend, your body will derive energy from fat stores, and you'll lose weight.

Waist Circumference

If you are not pregnant, one way to determine whether your caloric intake is correct is to measure your waist circumference. When women experience a calorie imbalance toward excess, they tend to store fat in the abdomen and other areas. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if your waist measures more then 35 inches around, you are probably overweight. This means that you either consume too many calories or that you don't exercise enough.

Body Mass Index

For a more precise evaluation of your caloric balance that takes your height into account, calculate your body mass index, or BMI, which reveals where your weight falls on an average scale. Multiply the number 703 by your weight in pounds, dividing the sum by your height in inches. Divide that quotient by your height again to get your BMI. Numbers 25 and up are overweight, while 18.4 and under is considered underweight. Median BMIs represent healthy weights in caloric balance for your body type.

Significance

Control over your caloric intake through food selection and portion sizes helps you sustain a stable body weight for optimum health and lower risk of chronic disease. Avoiding underweight conditions reduces your chances of experiencing bone fractures due to osteoporosis, which affects women more frequently than men. Avoiding overweight conditions makes you less likely to develop heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.