Global study reveals children’s plant-based food intake remains critically low and declines with age in high-income countries

Research from Tufts University highlights modest global improvements in children’s consumption of healthy plant-based foods, revealing significant shortfalls and a decline in intake among older children, especially in high-income nations.

Researchers at Tufts University say children and teenagers around the world are still eating too few healthy plant-based foods, even though fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds are central to growth and long-term health. In findings published in BMJ Global Health, the team analysed more than 1,200 dietary surveys from 185 countries and tracked intake from 1990 to 2018, using data from the Global Dietary Database. The researchers concluded that the overall pattern has improved only modestly and remains far below what nutrition experts would consider ideal.

The study found that average intake rose from 1.19 servings a day in children under one year old to 3.55 servings among those aged 15 to 19, with little difference between boys and girls. Intake was lowest in South Asia across age groups, while East and South-East Asia recorded some of the strongest levels, largely because children there ate more non-starchy vegetables. Country-level results varied widely, with Vietnam, Congo and Mexico among the highest, and Spain, Pakistan and the UK among the lowest.

One of the most striking findings was in the US, where younger children ate comparatively well but intake dropped sharply as they grew older. According to the Tufts analysis, children under two consumed 2.7 servings a day, while those aged two to 19 ate only 1.8 servings. The researchers said that suggests families may establish healthier habits early on, but keeping those habits through later childhood and adolescence is much harder. The pattern also stood out because, across the world, intake generally rose with age except in high-income countries.

The authors said the findings matter because poor diets in childhood can shape health for years to come. They argued that the results should help governments and health systems identify where access, affordability and food environments are failing young people, particularly in high-income countries where intake falls with age. The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health’s National Centre for Advancing Translational Sciences and the Gates Foundation.