Your Protein Needs Change As You Get Older. Here’s How Much You Should Be Eating At Every Age

Sometimes it can seem like protein is the most important piece in the nutrition puzzle, especially if you’ve spent any time on social media or have witnessed the fitness community’s obsession with protein.

Here’s expert advice on how much protein you need at every stage of life.

Why is protein so important?

Protein is a macronutrient made up of 20 amino acids, with nine essential amino acids that we can only get from our diet. It’s a vital structural component of our cells, tissues, hormones, and enzymes, and numerous other bodily functions. A continual supply of amino acids through the protein we eat is crucial for cell and tissue growth and repair. 

Getting enough protein is especially important for children, who are in a vital stage of growth, and protein acts as the building block for cells of all organ systems. It’s also critical for older adults, who need more protein to help counter the loss of muscle and bone mass.

How much protein you need at every age

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans specifies how much protein you should get based on your age.

Here is how much protein children should eat each day:

• Toddlers: 13 grams of protein
• Children ages 4 through 8: 19 grams
• Children ages 9 through 13: 34 grams
• Adolescents ages 14 through 18: 46 grams

For adults over 19:

• The USDA says 10% to 35% of your daily calories should come from protein sources—for a 2,000-calorie per day diet, that would be 200 to 700 calories.

Another common way to measure protein intake is by weight. Many dietitians, including registered dietitian Abbey Sharp, who spoke to Fortune, use the metric of 0.8 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. To get your weight in kilograms, divide your weight in pounds by 2.2, then multiply by 0.8 and 1.2 to get your protein range.

For older adults, Sharp encourages increasing protein intake, especially since it becomes more difficult to maintain muscle and bone mass as you age. So adults over 60 could go as high as 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day, Sharp previously told Fortune.

Don’t obsess about protein

While it’s important to make sure you’re hitting your protein needs at every stage of life, dietitians think the obsession with high protein has gone too far—especially on social media.

“Most Americans take in more protein than they need anyway,” Stella Volpe, president of the American College of Sports Medicine and a registered dietitian, previously told Fortune.  

In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that nearly 60% of the U.S. population ages 1 and older eat more than the dietary protein recommendations. 

“If you’re eating enough good quality food, you’ll be getting enough protein,” Amati previously told Fortune.