Mixed
Global dietary quality, measured by the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), is modest (mean score 40.3/100) and has improved only slightly (+1.5 points) globally between 1990 and 2018, with significant regional disparities where South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa saw no improvement or decline.
Your overall diet matters more than any single food. Globally, average diet quality is low (40/100). To improve, focus on increasing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats while reducing sugar-sweetened beverages, red/processed meat, and sodium. This applies to everyone, but the specific gaps vary by region and education level. In many areas, simply increasing produce intake yields the biggest health return.
In 2018, the mean global Alternative Healthy Eating Index score was 40.3... Diet quality increased modestly between 1990 and 2018 globally and in all world regions except in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, where it did not improve.
Why this rating
The study utilizes the Global Dietary Database with 1,139 surveys from 185 countries using Bayesian modeling, providing high-quality observational data, though it is not an interventional trial.
Source
Global dietary quality in 185 countries from 1990 to 2018 show wide differences by nation, age, education, and urbanicity
Victoria Miller et al. · Nature Food · 2022
DOI 10.1038/s43016-022-00594-9
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