Multicountry estimation of dietary boron intake.

Dietary Reference Intakes are not yet established for boron (B), a naturally occurring trace element in the human diet. Estimated dietary B intakes provide useful information for planning and assessing diets in healthy populations. The countries selected for this study represent a wide variety of dietary patterns and have adequate nutrient databases (with the exception of B) and food consumption data. Large-scale nationwide survey data were provided by the US (1989-1991) and Germany (1985-1989). Survey data from rural agricultural communities of Mexico and Kenya were provided by the Human Nutrition Collaborative Research Support Program (1983-1986). A B nutrient database was created to include B concentrations for the foods consumed in each country. It incorporates B analytical data from various sources in the US, Finland, UK, Italy, Japan, and China. Each person's average daily B intake was estimated by linking the B database with the survey food records. Average dietary intake estimates were then generated for various age and sex groups. The estimates for adults in the US, Germany, Mexico and Kenya, respectively, are 1.11, 1.72, 2.12, and 1.95 mg B/d for males and 0.89, 1.62, 1.75, and 1.80 mg B/d for females. Foods that are major contributors to the B intake of each country were also identified.