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Combining public datasets to explore global trends in dietary quality, undernutrition and chronic disease 1980‐2009
Author(s) -
Green Rosemary,
Sutherland Jenny,
Dangour Alan,
Webb Patrick
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.272.8
Subject(s) - malnutrition , environmental health , agriculture , medicine , public health , epidemiology , disease , geography , nursing , archaeology , pathology
Agricultural production, commodity marketing and food consumption patterns have changed significantly over the past 30 years the world over, as have national epidemiological profiles. Many countries are now experiencing epidemics of non‐communicable diseases (NCDs), while some simultaneously have large burdens of childhood undernutrition. Little is known about how the changing availability of different kinds of foods may be related to both undernutrition and NCDs. Combining data for 124 countries over the period 1980‐2009, this study uses random effects models to explore associations between dietary energy availability and dietary quality, on the one hand, and nutrition and health outcomes, on the other. The analysis suggests that increased total dietary energy availability over the study period was associated with lower rates of chronic child undernutrition (stunting) but increased rates of mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD), which is an important element of the NCD burden. The proportion of total dietary energy provided by different food groups was also important. In particular, increased energy from fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products was associated with a lower prevalence of stunting, while increased availability of energy from fruit was also related to lower mortality from IHD. By contrast, the availability of energy from meat, dairy products and vegetable oils was associated with higher levels of mortality from IHD. Policy strategies to deal with the burdens of undernutrition and of NCDs are typically pursued along separate lines, the assumption being that these problems are independent of each other. Our analyses however suggest that not just the quantity but also the quality of diets is essential in tackling both undernutrition and NCDs.