Table 4.

Estimated daily protein intake of the total New Zealand population.

Population group	Average estimated daily protein intake in grams (nutrition survey data56,57)	Population size (Q4 2021 estimates58)	Total per day (tonnes)
Adult men (15 + years)	102	2,041,970	208
Adult women (15 + years)	71	2,105,180	149
Children* (< 15 years) – males	62	496,930	31
Children* (< 15 years) – females	52	470,720	24
Total	–	5,114,800	413** (equivalent to 81 g/person/day)

*We used the protein intakes for the 5–6-year-old-age-group, which is likely mid-range for the 0–14 year group. That is, the intakes for the < 5 year age-group were not collected in the survey data and for the 11–14 year age-group the intakes were boys: 88 g/d; and girls: 66 g/d⁵⁷.

**This total might be slightly below the ideal for planning purposes since some of the adult survey respondents reported food insecurity, some people may have been dieting to control their weight at the time of the survey, and because of under-estimation of food intakes associated with the use of food diaries⁵⁹. Nevertheless, the intakes for adults in New Zealand are relatively high compared to the dietary recommendations of 64 g/d for men (63% of current intakes) and 46 g/d for women (65% of current intakes) (with recommendations being for the 19–70-year-age-group)⁶⁰.