Mixed
Global dietary intake data is highly available for fruits, non-starchy vegetables, and sugar-sweetened beverages, but critically sparse for iodine, vitamin A, plant protein, selenium, added sugar, and animal protein.
When evaluating global diet quality, recognize that data on fruits, vegetables, and sugary drinks is robust, but data on essential micronutrients (iodine, selenium, vitamin A) and specific protein sources is often missing. This limits our ability to assess diet-related health risks in many populations accurately.
Most commonly ascertained foods were fruits (N=803 surveys), non-starchy vegetables (N=787) and sugar-sweetened beverages (N=440); and nutrients, sodium (N=343), energy (N=256), calcium (N=224) and fibre (N=200). Least available data were on iodine, vitamin A, plant protein, selenium, added sugar and animal protein.
Why this rating
Based on a systematic search of 1220 surveys covering 99% of the world's population.
Source
Global Dietary Database 2017: data availability and gaps on 54 major foods, beverages and nutrients among 5.6 million children and adults from 1220 surveys worldwide
Victoria Miller et al. · BMJ Global Health · 2021
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