ArticleBMJ global health2026
Global, regional and national intake of plant-based foods among youth in 185 countries (1990-2018): findings from the Global Dietary Database.
Article in BMJ global health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
introductionHealthful plant-based foods can improve youth nutrition and contribute to global targets such as Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 on ending malnutrition, SDG3 improving health and SDG12 promoting sustainable diets, yet global intakes remain unquantified.
methodsWe analysed the Global Dietary Database, aggregating 1248 dietary surveys from 185 countries in a Bayesian hierarchical model adjusted for survey heterogeneity, temporal trends and data uncertainty. We assessed energy-adjusted consumption of fruits, non-starchy vegetables, starchy vegetables (excluding potatoes), beans/legumes and nuts/seeds among youth by age (0-19) globally in 2018; evaluated heterogeneity regionally, nationally and by sex, education and urbanicity; and assessed trends from 1990.
resultsGlobally, plant-based food intake was low, from 1.19 servings/day (95% uncertainty interval (UI) 1.16 to 1.35) in <1-year-olds to 3.55 servings/day (3.35 to 3.79) in 15-19-year-olds. South Asia had the lowest intakes across all ages; East/Southeast Asia had the highest intakes for several ages, driven by non-starchy vegetables. Intake increased with age in all regions except high-income countries, where <1-year-olds consumed the most (3.77 servings/day (95% UI 3.30 to 4.35)), mainly from fruit (2.43 (2.14 to 2.77)). Across most regions, females consumed more fruit and non-starchy vegetables; urban youth consumed more fruit and nuts/seeds and those from higher educated households had higher intakes of all plant-based foods except beans/legumes. Among the 25 most populous countries, lowest intakes of total plant-based foods were in Spain (1.35 (1.10 to 1.75)), Pakistan (1.43 (1.21 to 1.76)), and the UK (1.71 (1.50 to 2.01)); and highest in Vietnam (4.28 (3.29 to 5.78)), Congo (4.38 (3.49 to 5.95)) and Mexico (5.18 (4.75 to 5.65)). Compared to 1990, youth globally in 2018 consumed more non-starchy vegetables and nuts/seeds, less starchy vegetables, and higher total plant-based foods.
conclusionYouth globally consume inadequate healthful plant-based foods, varying substantially by age, region and sociodemographic factors. These findings highlight gaps towards SDGs, underscoring the needs for targeted surveillance, policy interventions, and equity-focused strategies to improve youth dietary quality.
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