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NUTRIENT INTAKE

Nutrient intakes are derived from the food, beverage and supplement intakes reported in the 24-hour dietary recall. Nutrients are reported to enable:

• comparison against recommendations in the Nutrient Reference Values, the Australian Dietary Guidelines (e.g. if you choose to drink alcohol, limit intake)
• monitoring of the mandatory addition of nutrients to food in Australia under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code
• comparison to previous surveys (where feasible)

NUTRIENTS REPORTED IN 2011-12 NNPAS
Nutrient	Unit	Foods	Nutrients
Energy (with dietary fibre)	kJ	X
Energy (without dietary fibre)	kJ	X
Proximates
Moisture (water)	g	X
Protein	g	X	X
Total fat	g	X	X
Available carbohydrate (with sugar alcohols)	g	X
Available carbohydrate (without sugar alcohols)	g	X
Starch	g	X
Total sugars	g	X
Dietary fibre	g	X	X
Alcohol	g	X
Vitamins
Preformed vitamin A (retinol)	µg	X	X
Pro-vitamin A (b-carotene equivalents)	µg	X	X
Vitamin A retinol equivalents	µg	X	X
Thiamin (B1)	mg	X	X
Riboflavin (B2)	mg	X	X
Niacin (B3)	mg	X	X
Niacin derived equivalents	mg	X	X
Folate, natural	µg	X
Folic acid	µg	X	X
Total folates	µg	X
Dietary folate equivalents	µg	X	X
Vitamin B6	mg	X	X
Vitamin B12	µg	X	X
Vitamin C	mg	X	X
Vitamin E	mg	X	X
Minerals
Calcium	mg	X	X
Iodine	µg	X	X
Iron	mg	X	X
Magnesium	mg	X	X
Phosphorus	mg	X	X
Potassium	mg	X	X
Selenium	µg	X	X
Sodium*	mg	X	X
Zinc	mg	X	X
Other
Caffeine	mg	X	X
Cholesterol	mg	X	X
Fatty Acids
Total saturated fat	g	X	X
Total monounsaturated fat	g	X	X
Total polyunsaturated fat	g	X	X
Linoleic acid	g	X	X
Alpha-linolenic acid	g	X	X
Total long chain omega 3 fatty acids	mg	X	X
Total trans fatty acids	mg	X	X

• amount of each nutrient consumed per instance of food or beverage
• amount of each nutrient consumed per supplement consumed (as listed above as relevant for supplements). Energy from supplements is not reported, as supplements do not generally contribute meaningful amounts of energy when considering overall energy intakes
• amount of each nutrient consumed per person over the 24-hour reporting period (for 2 days where available) from foods and beverages, supplements (where relevant) and total
• percentage contribution to total energy per person for protein, total fat, saturated and trans fats, trans fats, polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, carbohydrates with sugar alcohols, total sugars, starch, alcohol and fibre. The energy from each of these nutrients was estimated by multiplying each gram of particular nutrient by a conversion factor to determine the kilojoules of energy. The conversion factors are set out below.
  
  

  NUTRIENT CONVERSION FACTORS
  Nutrient	kJ per gram
  Protein	17
  Total fat	37
  Saturated fat and trans fat	37
  Monounsaturated fat	37
  Polyunsaturated fat	37
  Trans fat	37
  Linoleic acid	37
  Alpha-linolenic acid	37
  Carbohydrates (CHO) with sugar alcohols	(Sugar*16)+(Starch*17)+(Sugar alcohol *16)+ (Other available CHO*17)
  Total sugars	16
  Starch	17
  Alcohol	29
  Fibre	8

BMR FORMULAE FOR EACH AGE AND SEX GROUP
Age group	Sex	BMR formula
Under 3	Male	249 * weight - 127
	Female	244 *weight - 130
3 to 9	Male	95 * weight + 2110
	Female	85 * weight + 2033
10 to 18	Male	74 * weight + 2754
	Female	56 * weight + 2898
19 to 30	Male	63 * weight + 2896
	Female	62 * weight + 2036
31 to 60	Male	48 * weight + 3653
	Female	34 * weight + 3538
Over 60	Male	49 * weight + 2459
	Female	38 * weight + 2755

EI:BMR or Energy intake to basal metabolic rate ratio (total energy intake over BMR) is given for day one and day two. This ratio provides an estimate of the level of physical activity, and is used for determining proportions of implausibly low intakes. For more information on the use of this ratio see Under-reporting in Nutrition Surveys.

Data Items

The data items and related output categories for the Nutrition topic including detail of Foods and Supplements consumed are available in Excel spreadsheet format from the Downloads page of this product.

Interpretation

A number of points should be considered when interpreting data for this topic.

• Nutrient intake, by means of the 24-hour dietary recall, is as reported by respondents. Recall error such as under-reporting or deliberate misreporting can occur (see Under-reporting in Nutrition Surveys).
• Total energy will be greater than the sum of the components (Protein, Total fat, Total Carbohydrate, Dietary fibre and Alcohol). This is because Total energy accounts for the small amount of energy from organic acids.
• The components of Total fat, Carbohydrate, and Polyunsaturated fat do not sum to the respective totals. In the case of Total fat, this is because Total fat includes the other forms of fat such as non-fatty acid components of triglycerides, phospholipids, sterols and waxes, while the fatty acid components do not. In the case of Total carbohydrate, it is because of the inclusion of sugar alcohols and other available carbohydrates in addition to Total sugars and Total starch. In the case of Polyunsaturated fat, this is because Polyunsaturated fat includes polyunsaturated fatty acids not included in the values for linoleic acid, alpha- linolenic acid, and total long chain omega 3 fatty acids.
• The nutrient database contains nutrient values (including sodium and iodine) for each unique food reported in the survey. Although the nutrient database reasonably reflects levels of sodium and iodine in food ‘as sold’ for processed foods and takeaway foods, it does not assume any amounts of added salt in home prepared foods, such as mixed savoury dishes from basic ingredients, vegetables, meat or fish. Although the actual specific instances and amounts of salt added during cooking or at the table were not captured in the 2011-12 NNPAS, the survey did ask each respondent more general questions about the frequency of salt use in food preparation and at the table, and whether the salt usually used was iodised. Without some adjustment, the estimation of dietary sodium and iodine intakes from the 2011-12 NNPAS will somewhat underestimate total dietary sodium and iodine intakes.