TABLE 4.

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TABLE 4. Total national dietary energy available per capita per day, Malaysia, 1961-1985, as percentage of requirements

	Energy (kcal)	% of requirement
	Energy (kcal)	2,230 kcal^a	2,030 kcal^b
1961-63	2,438	109.3	120.1
1964-66	2,458	110.2	121.1
1969-71	2,508	112.5	123.5
1974-76	2,565	115.0	126.3
1979-81	2,519	112.9	124.1
1982-84	2,549	114.3	125.6
1983-85	2,686	120.5	132.3

a. Recommended by FAO [8]. b Requirement calculated on basis of ret. 2; see table 5.

TABLE 5. Calculation of an estimated desirable energy allowance for Malaysia

Age (years)	Popu lation ('000)	Average weight (kg)^a	BMR^b	PAL^c	Energy allowance (kcal/kg)	Average individual need (kcal/day)	Total age-group need (kcal/day x10^-6)
Males
0+	254	7.3			109	796	202.2
1 +	236	9.8^d			108	1,058	249.7
2+	221	11.5^d			104	1,196	264.3
3+	210	12.8^d			99	1,267	266.1
4+	201	14.4^d			95	1,368	275.0
5+	195	16.2^e			92	1,490	290.5
6+	191	16.4^e			88	1,443	275.6
7+	188	18.9			83	1,569	295.0
8+	187	21.3			77	1,640	306.7
9+	187	22.9^d			72	1,649	308.4
10+	188	25.6	1,099	1.76		1,934	363.6
11+	190	31.0	1,194	1.72		2,054	390.3
12+	190	36.0	1,281	1.69		2,165	411.4
13+	188	44.7	1,433	1.67		2,393	449.9
14+	183	45.7	1,451	1.65		2,394	438.1
15+	179	49.8	1,523	1.62		2,467	441.6
16+	175	55.8	1,628	1.60		2,605	455.9
17+	171	57.2	1,652	1.60		2,643	451.9
18-29+	1,761	59.3	1,586	1.76		2,791	4,915.6
30-59+	2,112	58.2	1,554	1.76		2,735	5,776.4
>60	423	51.2	1,178	1.51		1,779	752.5
Females
0+	241	7.1^d			109	774	186.5
1 +	223	9.1^d			113	1,028	229.3
2+	209	11.1^d			102	1,132	236.6
3+
	198	12.8^d			95	1,216	240.8
4+	190	14.4^d			92	1.325	251.7
5+	184	16.2^e			88	1,426	262.3
6+	181	16.4^e			83	1,361	246.4
7+	179	17.6			76	1,338	239.4
8+	178	20.2			69	1,394	248.1
9 +	178	23.9^d			62	1,445	257.1
10+	180	25.8	1,061	1.65		1.751	315.1
11+	183	33.4	1,153	1.62		1,868	341.8
12+	183	35.6	1,180	1.60		1,188	345.5
13+	181	41.8	1,256	1.58		1.984	359.2
14+	176	44.1	1,284	1.57		2,016	354.8
15+	171	43.9	1,282	1.54		1,974	337.6
16+	167	46.0	1,307	1.52		1,987	331.8
17+	163	50.7	1,365	1.52		2,075	338.2
18-29+	1,800	48.0	1,202	1.64		1.971	3.548.3
30-59+	2,092	52.8	1,288	1.64		2,112	4.419.0
>60	466	49.5	1,116	1.56		1,741	811.3
Total	15,553						31,481.5
Extra allowance for pregnant women							68.0
Total population requirement							31,549.5
Average requirement per capita						2,029

Calculation based on ref. 2.

a Adapted from ref. s except as otherwise indicated.
b. Basal metabolic rate. based on weight.
c. Physical activity level ill
d. Adapted from ref. 2.
e. Averages for troth sexes combined.

Recognition of the fallacy of costless adaptation to low energy intake has had a significant impact on food policy makers and has led to the energyrequirement issue being seen as more critical than ever before [11]. The differences shown in table 4 are substantial; it is difficult to say whether the increasing surplus may actually reflect large-scale food wastage or whether the energy requirements of Malaysians have been underestimated. The FAO/WHO/UNU report [1] rejects the use of the concept of metabolic adaptation in policy making and proposes that efforts should be made to ensure adequate diets that will permit full expression of genetic potential, including optimum body size and physical capacity.

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