4727.0.55.005 - Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Nutrition Results - Food and Nutrients, 2012-13  
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VITAMIN B12

Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood. Vitamin B12 is a nutrient that helps keep the body's nerve and blood cells healthy and helps make DNA. Almost all vitamin B12 comes from animal foods, such as meat and dairy products.1

Vitamin B12 intakes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from food averaged 5.0 µg per day for males and 3.8 µg for females. Males and females in all age groups had average intakes that exceeded the Estimated Average Requirement. Males aged 19-30 years had the highest intakes at 5.9 µg, reflecting their relatively high consumption of Meat, poultry and game products and dishes. In contrast, females aged 19-30 years had an average vitamin B12 intake of 4.0 µg (see Table 1.1).

The main sources of vitamin B12 were: Meat, poultry and game products and dishes (35%), Milk products and dishes (28%) Cereal-based products and dishes (12%) and Fish and seafood products and dishes (7.8%) (see Table 10.47).

VITAMIN B12, Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) and mean daily intake, by age

Age (years)
EAR (µg)(a)
Mean intake (µg)(b)
MalesFemalesMalesFemales
2-30.70.74.43.9
4-8 1.01.03.43.5
9-131.51.54.23.7
14-182.02.04.93.4
19-30 2.02.05.94.0
31-502.02.05.84.0
51 and over2.02.04.63.5
    Source:
    (a) National Health and Medical Research Council 2006, Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand, Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council < http://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/vitamin-b12>
    (b) Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Nutrition Results - Food and Nutrients, 2012-13.

The average vitamin B12 intake for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people is the same at 4.4 µg per day. While for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Meat, poultry and game products and dishes was the highest contributor towards B12 intake (35%), for non-Indigenous people it was Milk products and dishes (30%).

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Measures Survey (NATSIHMS) included tests for Vitamin B12, a nutrient that helps keep the body’s nerve and blood cells healthy. For more information on Vitamin B12 levels for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people see Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey: Biomedical Results, 2012-13 (Table 12.1).


ENDNOTES

1. National Health and Medical Research Council 2006, Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand, Canberra: National Health and Medical Research Council, < http://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/vitamin-b12>, Last accessed 23/02/2015.