Protein Intake by Age: How Much Do You Need?

Protein intake by age is not a fixed number you set once and forget. Your body's demand for protein shifts across every decade of life, shaped by hormonal changes, muscle physiology, activity level, and metabolic rate. Get it right, and you protect lean mass, support energy, and stay strong. Get it wrong, and you quietly lose muscle year by year without ever knowing why. This guide gives you the exact targets for every life stage, the science behind them, and a practical system to hit them daily.

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How Much Protein Should I Eat a Day by Age?

The baseline most nutrition guidelines reference is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. This figure comes from the Dietary Reference Intakes established by the Institute of Medicine and represents the minimum needed to prevent deficiency in a sedentary adult. It is a floor, not a target.

Here is how daily protein requirements by age break down across the lifespan:

• Children (4, 13 years): 0.85, 0.95 g/kg. Growing bodies use protein for tissue construction, enzyme...