Researchers at Tufts University found that today’s diets are not much different or healthier than three decades ago across the planet.
The team ranked different dietary items on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 meant the least nutritional value or junk food and 100 was a perfectly healthy diet with all the components.
In 2018, the average score was 40.3, 1.5 points higher than in 1990. During that time, healthy options became popular in some countries like the US, China and Iran, but in others like Japan and Nigeria, people’s diet had become unhealthy. People in the Americas ate unhealthily, but South Asians had the best eating habits.
Only 10 countries in the world scored above 50 today.
While people today are consuming more vegetables and dried fruits, they are also eating more red meat and drinking sugary and salty beverages.
The study published in the journal Natural food It also found that women follow healthier diets than men. Older people were also found to eat healthier foods than younger people.
Education seems to play an important role. Those with higher education are more conscientious and become well-educated parents, feeding their children healthier foods.
The team said eating habits and diet quality were observed to decline with age. The youngest children had the best diets but it got worse as they got older. The authors said that childhood could be the best time to form healthy habits in children.
The researchers analyzed data from more than 1,100 World Dietary Database surveys conducted in 185 countries.
Poor diet has been shown to be the main cause of disease and almost 26% of premature deaths.
