United States: A new study which basically shows that more than half of people worldwide are not getting enough important nutrients like calcium, iron, and vitamins C and E.
This lack of nutrients can be a leading factor toward the very serious health issues such as blindness, infections, and problems during pregnancy. Ty Beal, a researcher at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, calls these findings “alarming,” highlighting the need for better nutrition around the world.
Study Findings
As reported by HealthDay, most of the people even more than previously thought across all the regions and the countries of all the incomes and are note consuming enough to multiple the essential micronutrients Beal said and these gaps compromise the health outcomes and the limit human potential on a global scale.
For the study the researchers have already combined data format the several sources to compare the nutritional intake of the people in almost 185 countries.
Demographic Insights
The team specifically assessed intake of the 15b vitamins and the minerals and the calcium, iodine, iron, riboflavin, folate, zinc, magnesium and some of the vitamins.
For iodine, a deficiency in 68% of the world’s population was identified; for vitamin E, 67%; calcium 66% and iron 65%.
Scientists also noted that over 50% people have a deficiency of riboflavin, folate, vitamin C and B6.
Of all central and western vitamins, the intake was nearly identifiable with marginal adequacy and it was with niacin with 22% of the global population deficient in it, followed by thiamine with 30% and selenium at 37%.
The public health task in front of practitioners and policymakers is huge, but they will be able to find out what dietary interventions are promising and direct them toward the groups who could benefit from these interventions the most; Christopher Golden, the senior author of the study and the associate professor of nutrition and planetary health at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public and Health, said. Girls were found to get inadequate amounts of iodine, vitamin B12, iron and selenium more often than boys, the findings show.
Future Directions
In turn, the quantity of consumed niacin, thiamine, zinc, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, B6 were lower in men than in women, according to the respondents.
People in the age group 10-30 particularly from the south and the east Asian countries and the sub-Saharan Africa were vulnerable to low calcium consumption. The consumption of calcium was also negligible in North America, Europe and Central Asia.
The study, according to the co-lead author Chris Free, a research professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara: “It is a huge advancement for us.” This paper is beneficial not only because it is the first to estimate inadequate micronutrient intakes for 34 age-sex groups in nearly every country, but it also makes methods and results readily available for researchers and practitioners.