BMR, TDEE and ICMR-NIN 2020 RDA calculator

W is weight in kg, H is height in cm and A is age in years. Each result is rounded to the nearest kcal.

TDEE is BMR × an activity factor: 1.2 sedentary, 1.375 lightly active, 1.55 moderately active, 1.725 very active, 1.9 extremely active.

The goal target and macro split come from the same functions Nutrena's CRM runs for a general (non-clinical) client's energy targets:

• Lose weight: 500 kcal a day below maintenance — about 0.5 kg a week. Gain weight: 300 kcal a day above maintenance — a slow, lean gain. Maintain: TDEE. The result is rounded to the nearest 10.
• A deficit never takes the target below 1,200 kcal for women or 1,500 kcal for men, the usual lowest intake without medical supervision.
• Protein: 1.2 g/kg to lose, 1.0 g/kg to maintain, 1.5 g/kg to gain, on actual weight. From a BMI of 30, on adjusted body weight (Devine ideal body weight plus 25% of the weight above it), for protein and water.
• Fat: 25% of energy. Carbohydrate is the remainder, with a warning if it falls below 130 g.
• Fibre: 14 g per 1,000 kcal. Water: 35 ml per kg.

In the CRM you can change the protein g/kg and fat %, or override the kcal, on the client's profile. Here they stay at the defaults.

ICMR-NIN calculates the energy requirement as BMR × physical activity level (PAL). Two changes in 2020 brought the adult figures down:

• BMR. Compared with BMR measured in Indians, the FAO/WHO/UNU equations can overestimate by 10–12%, because their data set included young, muscular subjects and Indians carry relatively more body fat. The 2010 committee cut the equations' result by 5%; the 2020 committee cut a further 5% for adults. Children keep the FAO/WHO/UNU 2004 BMR.
• Activity. The 2010 values borrowed physical activity ratios from Western studies. Recalculated with ratios reported for Indians, the sedentary PAL fell from 1.53 to 1.40, and the other levels came down too.

The adult requirement is now 3 to 8 kcal/kg/day lower than in 2010. A sedentary man's figure fell from 2,320 to 2,110 kcal and a sedentary woman's from 1,900 to 1,660 kcal.

Pregnancy adds 350 kcal a day; lactation adds 600 kcal for the first six months and 520 kcal for months 7–12.

The table's footnote says the requirement should be adjusted for the actual weight and activity of the people you are planning for. So the calculator multiplies the per-kg figure by your client's weight and rounds to the nearest 10, as the table does. That is why a 65 kg sedentary man shows 2,080 kcal (32 × 65) rather than the printed 2,110: the per-kg column is itself rounded.

ICMR-NIN 2020 runs lower than its own 2010 values and lower than the unadjusted FAO/WHO/UNU equations, for the two reasons above: a BMR cut twice by 5% and a lower sedentary PAL.

It is not always lower than a Mifflin-St Jeor TDEE. The usual sedentary multiplier for the equations is 1.2; ICMR-NIN's sedentary PAL is 1.40. For a sedentary man of 65 kg, 170 cm and 30 years, Mifflin-St Jeor gives a BMR of 1,568 and a TDEE of 1,882 kcal, while ICMR-NIN gives 2,080 kcal. Enter those numbers above to see it.

The per-kg approach also scales in a straight line with weight, so for a client with obesity it climbs faster than the equations do. The calculator flags this when the BMI is in an obese class.

Neither number is the right one. The ICMR-NIN figures are requirements for healthy Indian population groups; the equations predict one person's BMR. Plan on one, check it against the other, and adjust against the client's weight over the following weeks.

Requirements vary between healthy people. The EAR (estimated average requirement) is the median of that spread; the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) sits at its upper end, high enough to cover almost everyone. The brief note puts the EAR at usually about 80% of the RDA.

The 2010 committee published only RDAs. The 2020 committee derived both, and recommends the EAR for judging adequacy in a population and for planning menus and diets for individuals, in line with global practice. In its words, “RDAs are not recommended for use in menu planning for groups or individuals.” If everyone is planned to the RDA, the whole intake distribution shifts above requirement and a significant share may reach the tolerable upper limit. The 2020 report defines those upper limits too, because several foods are now fortified.

In practice: plan the day on the EAR, and use the RDA when you are correcting a deficiency.

The adult EAR is 0.66 g/kg/day and the RDA 0.83 g/kg/day, down from an RDA of 1 g/kg/day in 2010. That is 42.9 and 54.0 g for a 65 kg man, and 36.3 and 45.7 g for a 55 kg woman. The values follow the FAO/WHO/UNU 2007 approach and assume high-quality protein; the 2020 report also introduces DIAAS as its protein quality index.

For people eating a cereal-based diet with low-quality protein, the requirement is 1 g/kg/day (Table 2a footnote). The recommended cereal : legume : milk ratio is 3:1:2.5, up from 11:1:3 in 2010.

Pregnancy adds 7.6 g (EAR) / 9.5 g (RDA) a day in the second trimester and 17.6 / 22.0 g in the third. Lactation adds 13.6 / 16.9 g for 0–6 months and 10.6 / 13.2 g for 6–12 months.

• Under-18s. It shows nothing below 18 years. ICMR-NIN gives children and adolescents separate values, and the BMR equations are adult equations.
• Clinical conditions. It is for healthy adults. It does not apply to CKD, diabetes, liver disease, cancer, critical illness or any condition where energy and protein are prescribed for the disease. In Nutrena, clinical clients get condition-aware targets in clinical mode instead.
• Pregnancy and lactation. Only the ICMR-NIN energy and protein additions are applied. The equations and the goal target do not adjust, and the vitamin and mineral table shows non-pregnant adult values.
• A final answer. Every figure here is a prediction for planning. Use your clinical judgement and the client's weight trend.

• ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. A Brief Note on Nutrient Requirements for Indians, the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) and the Estimated Average Requirements (EAR), 2020 (PDF): Tables 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3 and 4, and the method notes on energy, protein and fat. Read 19 Oct 2026.
• BMR equations, activity factors, goal target and macro defaults: as implemented in Nutrena's CRM, which runs the same functions on a client's profile.
• BMI: Asian-Pacific cut-offs (overweight from 23, obese from 25), as used for Indian adults in Nutrena.