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Amino Acid Requirements of Children

Quantitative Amino Acid Requirements of Girls Based on Nitrogen Balance Method

Department of Nutrition and Biochemistry, Institute of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan

The problem of whether the minimal requirements of essential amino acids and of total nitrogen established previously for boys were also adequate for girls was examined. For a period of 12 to 19 days, 6 healthy 8- to 13-year-old girls were given minimal quantities of the 8 essential amino acids studied previously with boys of the same age group, but with total nitrogen varied. The youngest of the group maintained positive balance with an intake of 8 g nitrogen. Of the three 12-year-old girls, two remained in positive balance with 8 g, and the other with 12 g. Two 13-year-old girls also maintained positive balance with a nitrogen intake of 12 g. The large variation in total nitrogen requirement is attributed to individual differences in the time of onset and degree of the pubertal growth spurt. Body weight and excretion of creatinine and 17-ketosteroids remained almost constant throughout the experimental period.