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Intake recommendations for vitamin K and other nutrients are provided in the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) developed by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. DRI is the general term for a set of reference values used for planning and assessing nutrient intakes of healthy people. These values, which vary by age and gender, include:

• Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA): Average daily level of intake sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97%–98%) healthy individuals; often used to plan nutritionally adequate diets for individuals.
• Adequate Intake (AI): Intake at this level is assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy; established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA.
• Estimated Average Requirement (EAR): Average daily level of intake estimated to meet the requirements of 50% of healthy individuals; usually used to assess the nutrient intakes of groups of people and to plan nutritionally adequate diets for them; can also be used to assess the nutrient intakes of individuals.
• Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): Maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects.

Insufficient data were available to establish an EAR for vitamin K, so the FNB established AIs for all ages that are based on vitamin K intakes in healthy population groups. Table 1 lists the current AIs for vitamin K in micrograms (mcg). The AIs for infants are based on the calculated mean vitamin K intake of healthy breastfed infants and the assumption that infants receive prophylactic vitamin K at birth as recommended by American and Canadian pediatric societies.

Table 1: Adequate Intakes (AIs) for Vitamin K

Age	Male	Female	Pregnancy	Lactation
Birth to 6 months	2.0 mcg	2.0 mcg
7–12 months	2.5 mcg	2.5 mcg
1–3 years	30 mcg	30 mcg
4–8 years	55 mcg	55 mcg
9–13 years	60 mcg	60 mcg
14–18 years	75 mcg	75 mcg	75 mcg	75 mcg
19+ years	120 mcg	90 mcg	90 mcg	90 mcg

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