Featured article | February 2025
Global estimation of dietary micronutrient inadequacies: a modelling analysis
Passarelli, S et al.
The Lancet Global Health
This article presents the first global estimates of inadequate micronutrient intake using a novel modeling approach. It highlights widespread deficiencies, with over 5 billion people not consuming enough iodine, vitamin E, or calcium, and over 4 billion lacking sufficient iron, riboflavin, folate, or vitamin C. The article includes useful charts and diagrams illustrating nutrient inadequacies by geography, age, and sex.
Discussed in the article:
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Micronutrient deficiencies are a widespread global issue, affecting billions of people.
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The most common inadequacies are iodine, vitamin E, calcium, and iron.
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Women are more likely than men to have inadequate intakes of iodine, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, calcium, riboflavin, and folate.
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Men have higher intake inadequacies for magnesium, vitamin B6, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin A, thiamin, and niacin.
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Geographic trends show South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and East Asia with the highest rates of calcium deficiency.
- Low prevalence of inadequate iodine intake was observed in Europe and Canada.
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Nutritional interventions such as supplementation, fortification, and dietary improvements are needed to address widespread deficiencies.
“This analysis provides, to our knowledge, the first global estimates to date of inadequate global micronutrient intakes using dietary intake estimates, including for specific age and sex groups and incorporating population-specific distribution data.”
