Estimating national and subnational nutrient intake distributions of global diets

Authors: PASSARELLI, SIMONE - Harvard School Of Public Health; FREE, CHRISTOPHER - University Of California; Allen, Lindsay - A; BATIS, CAROLINA - National Institute Of Public Health; BEAL, TY - University Of California, Davis; BILTOFT-JENSEN, ANJA PIA - Technical University Of Denmark; BROMAGE, SABRI - Harvard School Of Public Health; CAO, LING - Shanghai Jiaotong University; CASTELLANOS-GUTTIERR, ANALI - National Institute Of Public Health; CHRISTENSEN, TUE - Technical University Of Denmark; CRISPIM, SANDRA - Federal University Of Paraná; DEKKERS, ARNOLD - National Institute For Public Health And The Environment (RIVM); DE RIDDER, KARIN - Sciensano; KRONSTEINER-GICEVIC, SELMA - Harvard School Of Public Health; LEE, CHRISTOPHER - Harvard College; LI, YANPING - Harvard School Of Public Health; MOURSI, MOURAD - Fhi 360; MOYERSOEN, ISABELLE - Sciensano; SCHMIDHUBER, JOSEF - Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO); SHEPON, ALON - Tel Aviv University; VIANA, DANIEL - Harvard School Of Public Health; GOLDEN, CHRISTOPHER - Harvard School Of Public Health

Submitted to: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/19/2022
Publication Date: 6/10/2022
Citation: Passarelli, S., Free, C.M., Allen, L.H., Batis, C., Beal, T., Biltoft-Jensen, A., Bromage, S., Cao, L., Castellanos-Guttierr, A., Christensen, T., Crispim, S.P., Dekkers, A., De Ridder, K., Kronsteiner-Gicevic, S., Lee, C., Li, Y., Moursi, M., Moyersoen, I., Schmidhuber, J., Shepon, A., Viana, D.F., Golden, C.D. 2022. Estimating national and subnational nutrient intake distributions of global diets. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Article nqac108. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac108.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac108

Interpretive Summary: Access to high quality dietary intake data is central to health and policy research, but often unavailable. We derived usual nutrient intake distributions from individual-level dietary data using datasets from 30 geographically diverse countries, disaggregated by sex and age groups. The distribution of usual intakes was rarely symmetric and differed widely in variability and skewness across nutrients and countries. Vitamin intake distributions were more variable, skewed, and dissimilar across countries than other nutrients. Using a globally harmonized set of nutrient requirements and bioavailability parameters, we assessed nutrient intake inadequacy. Across most countries and nutrients, the prevalence of inadequate intake was higher for women than men. The distribution of usual intakes strongly affected estimates of the prevalence of inadequate intakes, so it is important to adjust for this when estimating the proportion of people with an inadequate intake. We created an R software package—nutriR—to make these distributions freely available. This represents a novel contribution to the availability and application of dietary intake data for diverse sub-populations.

Technical Abstract: Access to high quality dietary intake data is central to health and policy research, but often unavailable. We derived usual nutrient intake distributions from individual-level dietary data using datasets from 30 geographically diverse countries, disaggregated by sex and age groups. Distributions were rarely symmetric and differed widely in variability and skewness across nutrients and countries. Vitamin intake distributions were more variable, skewed, and dissimilar across countries than other nutrients. Using a globally harmonized set of nutrient requirements and bioavailability parameters, we assessed nutrient intake inadequacy. Across most countries and nutrients, the prevalence of inadequate intake was higher for women than men. Intake distribution shape strongly impacts the prevalence of inadequate intakes, and failing to account for shape biases estimates of inadequacies. We created an R package—nutriR—to make these distributions freely available. This represents a novel contribution to the availability and application of dietary intake data for diverse sub-populations.