A new study shows that the diets of people around the world are slightly healthier today than they were 30 years ago.

The study, which assessed the eating habits of adults and children in 185 countries over nearly three decades (from 1990 to 2018), scored from 0 (a lot of processed meat, sugar, salt, etc.) to 100 (a lot, a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc.). how strictly people adhere to the recommended healthy diet.

The 185-country average is 40.3, a marginal improvement of only 1.5 points over those 30 years. This fact, according to scientists, shows how difficult it is to promote and implement a healthy diet on an international scale.

Hygiene diet it is steadily gaining ground in countries as diverse as the US, China, Iran, and Vietnam, but much less so in countries such as Japan, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Only ten countries with less than 1% of the world’s population scored over 50. Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, and India have the highest scores, while Brazil, Mexico, the US (which show slow improvement) and Egypt the lowest.

Regionally, this figure ranges from 30.3 in Latin America and the Caribbean (they have the worst nutrition on average) to 45.7 in South Asia. Worldwide, women are more likely to eat healthier than men, and younger people than older people. In addition, the more educated people and their parents are, the more likely they are to adopt a healthier diet.

Researchers led by Dr. Victoria Miller from the Canadian McMaster and Professor Jean Mayer from the Tufts American University School of Dietetics, who made a corresponding publication in the journal Nature Food, indicated that malnutrition is the main cause of various diseases and is the cause of one in four (26%) preventable death.

Link to scientific publication: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00594-9

Source: RES-EMI