What is the purpose of the Dietary Reference Intakes?

The purpose of the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) is to provide dietary recommendations for the population. DRIs serve as a comprehensive set of reference values utilized for assessing and planning nutrient intake in healthy individuals. These values are designed to promote optimal health, prevent nutritional deficiencies, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

By offering a standardized framework, the DRIs assist nutrition professionals, policymakers, and public health practitioners in creating effective dietary guidelines, nutrition education programs, and food assistance initiatives. They help individuals understand the appropriate levels of nutrients needed to maintain health across different age groups and life stages.

Establishing nutrient content in foods is not the primary role of DRIs; rather, this function is generally fulfilled by food composition databases and laboratory analyses. Similarly, while DRIs may inform health policies, they do not directly set them, as policy decisions often involve various factors beyond just dietary recommendations. Prescribing medication dosages is outside the scope of the DRIs, which focus solely on dietary nutrient intake.