Health experts recommend that 20 percent – 35 percent of adults' total daily calories come from fat.1 For example, if you eat a 2,000-calorie diet, this is about 65 grams of fat per day.

Children and adolescents who are still growing and developing need more fat in their diet: 30 percent – 40 percent of total daily calories for 1- to 3-year-olds and 25 percent - 35 percent of total daily calories for 4- to 18-year-olds.1

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend no more than 10 percent of your total daily calories come from saturated fat (for a 2,000-calorie diet this would be about 20 grams per day), and your trans fat consumption should be as low as possible.

Keeping fat intakes in the recommended ranges is important to good health, so be sure to check the Nutrition Facts Panel on food labels for the grams of fat per serving.

References:
1. Institute of Medicine, National Academies of Sciences, Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Fat, Protein and Amino Acids. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC 2002.