Globally, youth are not eating enough healthy plant-based foods, analysis concludes

Healthy plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes are the foundation of a healthy diet for anyone, no matter how old they are. But that’s especially true for children, for whom these foods are rich in essential nutrients that support normal growth, learning, mood and long-term health.

In a new global analysis of childhood diets over nearly 30 years, researchers at Tufts University found that children around the world are still consuming low amounts of these critical foods. Among their observations, in the United States, daily consumption of healthy plant-based foods decreased with age, going from among the highest in the world at an early age to among the lowest in later childhood and adolescence—a pattern that contrasts with most other countries.

“Dietary habits established during childhood can influence health throughout life, yet we found that consumption of healthy plant-based foods remains low among youth across the globe,” said first author Sydney Yearley, a student at the Tufts MD/Ph.D. Clinical & Translational Science program.

“These findings provide an important benchmark for tracking progress and identifying opportunities to improve access to nutritious foods for children and adolescents.”

In the study, published in BMJ Global Health, researchers analyzed dietary data from the Global Dietary Database, a large, comprehensive compilation of what people around the world eat or drink. Using a large statistical model incorporating data from more than 1,200 dietary surveys from 185 countries, the researchers analyzed consumption trends of five healthful plant-based foods between 1990 and 2018.

Researchers looked specifically at how much fruit, non-starchy vegetables, starchy vegetables (excluding potatoes), beans and legumes, and nuts and seeds children and adolescents from birth to 19 years of age consumed. The study provided estimates of intake at the global, regional and national levels, including differences by sex, household education, and urban or rural residence.

They found that globally, children and adolescents are eating relatively low amounts of plant-based foods, from 1.19 servings a day in children under 1 year old to 3.55 servings a day in 15–19-year-olds, with little variation by sex.

The rates were estimated to be lowest in South Asia across all ages, while countries in East and Southeast Asia had some of the highest rates across many age groups, mostly because children and adolescents there consumed more non-starchy vegetables.

They also found that intake of these important foods increased with age in all regions except in high-income countries. On a per-country level, rates were highest in Vietnam, Congo and Mexico, and lowest in Spain, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. From 1990 to 2018, total intake of healthy plant-based foods increased globally and in all regions except South Asia.

Notably, the analysis showed that children in the United States consumed among the highest amounts of healthy plant-based foods during infancy but among the lowest by later childhood and adolescence. Children younger than 2 consumed 2.7 servings a day, whereas youth ages 2–19 consumed just 1.8 servings a day.

The researchers say this decline suggests that while American families successfully establish healthy eating habits early in life, maintaining those habits throughout childhood and adolescence remains a challenge.

The researchers also found that only in high-income countries did consumption of healthful plant-based foods decrease with age, which they say may suggest that factors such as youth autonomy, food environments or cultural norms may shape children’s diets in these areas.

“When children don’t get enough of the right foods, it hurts their bodies and minds, limiting their energy, metabolism, learning and mood,” said senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

“Our findings support the importance of identifying gaps and advancing solutions to increase the consumption of minimally processed, healthy plant foods for children globally.”

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Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries.

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Andrew Zinin

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