The Global Burden Of Diseases Study 2017, which tracked the consumption of major foods and nutrients from 1990 to 2017 in 195 countries, links poor diet to a wide range of chronic diseases and indicates that one in every five deaths is attributed to poor diet.
The study, published in The Lancet, looked at 15 key dietary factors: diet low in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, calcium, fibre, seafood omega3 fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (liquid vegetable oils) and diets high in sodium, trans fatty acids, sugar sweetened beverages, processed meat, and red meat.
In almost every region, consumption of these foods was suboptimal, with none of the dietary factors eaten in the right amounts in all 21 regions of the world. The least consumed foods were nuts, seeds, milk and wholegrain, while the most consumed were sugar-sweetened beverages, processed meats and sodium.
On average, the world ate seven times less the recommended amount of nuts and seeds, and drank more than 10 times the recommended amount of sweetened beverages.
Additionally, the world only took 16 per cent of the recommended amount of milk, 23 per cent of the recommended intake of wholegrain, almost double the recommended amount of processed meat and 86 per cent more sodium.
Although the risks of death and disease from these risk factors vary across regions, their impact on the non-communicable diseases burden and related deaths is apparent. As the study showed, in 2017, an estimated 11 million deaths and 255 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)—number of years lost due to ill health—were attributed to dietary risk factors, majorly high sodium intake and low intake of whole grains and fruits. This study therefore calls for improvement of the quality of human diet across the globe.
