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Nutrition Medium #rda#pregnancy#aging

RDA by Life Stage

Pregnancy lifts iron, folate, choline, iodine. Lactation lifts choline and zinc. Aging shifts B12 needs.

A free, animated rda by life stage you can read here or embed on any website, from Scrollchart.

RDA by Life Stage

RDA / AI by Life StageDarker cell = higher requirement vs adult-female baseline. * = clinically significant elevation.ChildTeenMaleFemalePregnantLactatingElderlyIronFolateCholineIodineCalciumVitamin DZincB12Omega-3MagnesiumVitamin A1015818*27*98200400400400600*500400250400550*425450550*42590150150150220*290*15010001300*10001000100010001200*600600600600600600800*591181112*81.22.42.42.42.62.82.47001100160011001400130011001303604203203503103204007009007007701300*700Highest demand windowIron 27mg in pregnancy = 3x adult female RDA. Folate 600ug DFE. Iodine 220ug. VitA in lactation 1300ug RAE (1.9x). Teen calcium 1300mg = highest of any stage.

A heatmap of nutrients (rows) by life stage (columns: child, adult-male, adult-female, pregnant, lactating, elderly), with cell intensity showing requirement multiplier vs adult-female baseline.

Good for

  • Prenatal-nutrition articles showing which micronutrients require targeted supplementation
  • Dietitian patient-handouts covering how requirements shift across reproductive stages
  • Elderly-care nutrition content explaining why vitamin D and calcium targets rise after 70

Source & accuracy

This rda by life stage is an editorial illustration built to represent the concept accurately. Where it shows figures, they are typical or representative values chosen to make the relationship clear, not a single underlying dataset. The diagram and its explainer are reviewed and maintained centrally, and updated over time as understanding improves.

Why requirements move across the life course

Recommended intakes are not fixed numbers for everyone; they shift with age, sex, and reproductive status to match changing physiology. Rapid growth, blood volume expansion, and tissue building all raise demand for specific nutrients at particular stages, which is why reference tables are split by life stage rather than given as a single adult figure.

The diagram lines up these stages so the jumps, rather than the absolute values, stand out.

The biggest shifts: pregnancy, lactation, and aging

Pregnancy raises needs for iron (expanded blood volume and fetal stores), folate (neural tube development), iodine and choline (fetal brain development). Lactation raises choline and zinc to supply breast milk while iron need often falls back. With aging, reduced stomach acid impairs B12 release from food, so older adults are often advised to get B12 from supplements or fortified foods that do not require acid for absorption.

This is general educational information, not medical advice. Prenatal and age-specific supplementation should be set with a qualified clinician.

Embed this diagram

Add this animated rda by life stage to your own site. Copy one line of HTML, or use the embed builder for theme and sizing options.

Reference

What this is
A free, embeddable, animated rda by life stage for any website.
Who uses it
Nutrition blogs, Dietitians & RDs, Patient-info sites.
How to embed
Copy one line of HTML. No signup. No watermark. Works in WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Substack, plain HTML.
File size
iframe embed, ~80 KB gzipped (loads on demand, does not block your page paint).
License
Free forever. Editorial explainer text included; updated centrally over time.
URL
scrollchart.com/diagram/rda-by-life-stage

Embed format options

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Frequently asked questions

Where can I get a free animated "RDA by Life Stage" for my website?
Scrollchart provides "RDA by Life Stage" as a free, embeddable animated diagram you can add to any website with one line of HTML. No signup is required and there is no watermark. The diagram and its explainer text are served from scrollchart.com, so the embed stays current without any maintenance on your end.
How do I embed a rda by life stage diagram in a health or wellness blog?
Copy the HTML snippet from the Scrollchart diagram page and paste it into any post or page in your CMS. It works in WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Substack, and plain HTML without any plugin or account. The diagram renders as animated SVG directly in your page, so search engines can index the accompanying explainer text.
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