People are not getting even the minimal nutrients, such as Vitamin D

Chart assembled by Claude AI, June 2026

The 400 IU EAR for Vitamin D would bring 50% of the population to the IOM's 40 nmol/L median target; the 94%-below figure is just describing how few people hit even that intake number through diet, sun is ignored

As of 2026, many scientists believe the Vitamin D goal for 97% (not 50%) of people should be 40 ng ( 100 nmol/L)

EAR (Estimated Average Requirement): the daily intake estimated to meet the needs of 50% of healthy individuals in a given life-stage/sex group. It's the median requirement.
RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance): the daily intake estimated to meet the needs of ~97.5% of that same group.
The relationship: the RDA is derived from the EAR. The EAR must be established first; then RDA = EAR + 2 SD of the requirement distribution. When the SD isn't directly known, a coefficient of variation of 10% is assumed, giving the shortcut RDA = 1.2 × EAR. If the data are too thin to set an EAR, no RDA can be calculated, and an Adequate Intake (AI) is used instead.

Previous RDA chart by the FDA

The above chart appears to be for meeting EAR, not RDA (50%, not 97.5%)