Vitamin D Requirements

The average daily amount of vitamin D estimated to meet the requirements of 50 percent of healthy individuals, also called the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for vitamin D, is 10 μg per day for all individuals older than 1 year.

The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin D, presented in the table below, is however slightly higher than the EAR. The vitamin RDA is the amount of vitamin D required to stay healthy.

Please note that the RDA below is based on the cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) form and assumes minimal sunlight exposure. 1 μg of vitamin D3 is equal to 40 IU.

Table 2: Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for vitamn D.

Age, gender, life stage group RDA Vitamin D3 μg per day
Infants
0–6 mo 10
7–12 mo 10
Children
1–3 years 15
4–8 years 15
Adult Men
9–13 years 15
14–18 years 15
19–30 years 15
31–50 years 15
51–70years 15
> 70 years 20
Adult Women
9–13 years 15
14–18 years 15
19–30 years 15
31–50 years 15
51–70years 15
> 70 years 20
Pregnant Women
14–18 years 15
19–30 years 15
31–50 years 15
Lactating Women
14–18 years 15
19–30 years 15
31–50 years 15