How Many Calories Do You Need?

I just read an article about the number of calories we should have each day. I am not a big proponent of calorie counting, but I did find this interesting. The thing I found most interesting is that the average number of calories consumed by American adults has increased from 1970 to 2003 by about 520 calories. I thought this number was probably a little on the low side since the average weight of American adults has increased dramatically over this period.

I'll talk about women today and men tomorrow. For both, the active individual is one sho has physical activity equivalent to walking more than 3 miles a day at 3-4 miles per hour - for you step counters that's 6000 steps a day. Additionally, active individuals have light physical activity associated with their typical day to day lifestyle.

There is one other factor in play as to the number of calories besides physical activity, and that is age. As we get older, we need less.

Women - Sedentary Women Active
Age 19-30 2,000 calories 2400 calories
Age 31-50 1,800 calories 2200 calories
Age 51 or older 1600 calories 2000 calories