Calculate the calorie needs needed every day

If you have ever paid attention to the table of nutritional value information on food packaging, then you will often find the sentence “RDA percentage is based on 2000 kcal energy needs. Your energy needs may be higher or lower. " This means that your calorie needs per day are not the same as others, because many factors can affect your calorie needs. Actually, how do you calculate your daily calorie needs?

What are calories?

Before knowing what your calorie needs are, it's a good idea to know what calories are. Calorie is a unit of measurement for expressing the amount of energy in food. When we eat or drink, we provide energy (calories) to our bodies. The body then uses this energy as fuel for our various activities. The more activities we do, the more energy or calories we use.

The number of calories in a food is usually written in "kilocalories" or "kcal" units. For example, 500 calories would be written as 500 kcal. In addition to kcal, calories can also be written in units of "kilojoules" or "kJ". 1 kJ is equivalent to 0.239 calories.

Each person's daily calorie needs are different

The way to calculate the calorie needs of each person is different, because it will be calculated based on gender, age, height and weight, body composition, activity, to the physical condition of each. Calories needed by men are different from women even though they are at the same age range. Even two twins will have different calorie needs, depending on their physical condition and daily activities.

The standard of calorie intake per day varies from country to country. In America, men are advised to consume 2,700 calories per day and women 2200 calories per day. Meanwhile, based on the National Health Service in the UK, men are advised to consume 2500 calories and women 2000 calories. In contrast, the FAO recommends that the average adult consume a minimum of 1800 calories per day.

In Indonesia, there is a table that guides the nutritional adequacy rate. The table provides recommendations for how many calories each age group needs. As an example:

Infants aged 7-11 months, weighing 9 kg and height 71 cm need 725 kcal of energy per day.
Men aged 19-29 years, weighing 60 kg and height 168 cm need energy 2725 kcal per day.
Women aged 19-29 years, weighing 54 kg and height 159 cm need energy 2250 kcal per day.
Men over 80 years of age need 1525 kcal of energy and women of the same age need energy of 1425 kcal per day.
For pregnant women, an additional energy of 180-300 kcal is needed per day, depending on the trimester of pregnancy. Likewise with breastfeeding mothers, in the first 6 months an additional energy is needed up to 330 kcal and an additional 400 kcal in the next 6 months.

Various ways to calculate calorie needs every day

There are several ways to calculate your calorie needs, namely:

Harris-Benedict formula: This formula includes formulas that are often used by nutritionists. The Harris-Benedict formula takes into account your age, gender, weight, height, to your level of physical activity.
- The formula for calculating a man's energy needs is = 66.5 + 13.8 x (body weight in kilograms) + 5 x (height in cm) divided by 6.8 x age.
- Meanwhile, for women = 655.1 + 9.6 x (weight in kilograms) + 1.9 x (height in cm) divided by 4.7 x age.
- The result of this calculation is then multiplied by the physical activity factor. If your physical activity is low, then multiply by 1.2. For moderate physical activity multiply by 1.3. Meanwhile, strenuous physical activity is multiplied by 1.4.
Formula WHO (World Health Organization): Unlike the Harris-Benedict formula, this formula is simpler and does not take into account height. The WHO formula is divided according to age categories. For example, to find the energy needs of women aged 18-29 years, the formula 14.7 x (weight in kilograms) + 496 is used. Meanwhile, to find the energy needs of men aged 18-29 years, the formula 15.3 x (body weight) is used. in kilograms) + 679. The result is then multiplied by the physical activity factor.

Calorie requirement calculator

To make it easier for you to calculate your daily calorie needs, according to your weight, height, age, and activity level, Hello Sehat has provided Calorie Requirement Calculator which you can use by clicking the image below:

The relationship between calorie needs and health

Although food packaging more often lists the percentage of nutritional adequacy based on the energy requirement of 2000 kcal, now you know that not everyone needs 2000 kcal of energy per day. Your energy needs depend on your gender, age, weight, height, physical condition, to your daily activities. Knowing how much energy you need per day can help maintain your health because it can affect your daily energy balance.

The principle of meeting energy needs is simple, namely balance, because if you consume more calories than you need, this can lead to weight gain in the future as well as increase your risk of contracting various diseases, especially degenerative diseases. But if you consume less calories than you need, there will be weight loss as well as a decrease in the function of the organs in the body because they don't get the intake they should.