Global Subnational Prevalence of Inadequate Nutrient Intakes

Three harmonized datasets estimate the prevalence of inadequate nutrient intakes for 34 age-sex groups across 185 countries. The data covers 15 micronutrients from diet alone and 13 micronutrients under current and potential fortification scenarios. The work originated from related papers by Passarelli et al. (2022) and Friesen et al. (in press).

Use Cases

• Compare the prevalence of inadequate intakes for 15 micronutrients like vitamin A, iron, and zinc across 34 age-sex groups and 185 countries.
• Analyze the impact of current fortification programs on inadequate intakes for 13 micronutrients, excluding vitamin C and magnesium.
• Model the effect of improved compliance or aligned fortification standards on nutrient inadequacy using the three defined fortification scenarios.
• Assess subnational disparities in nutrient intake by linking harmonized variable names for age-sex groups across the three related datasets.

Strengths

• Covers 185 countries, providing a global scope for analysis.
• Provides harmonized estimates for 34 distinct age-sex groups within each country.
• Includes data for 15 micronutrients in the base diet dataset and 13 in the fortification analysis.

Limitations

• The base diet estimates exclude the effects of food fortification, representing only intrinsic nutrients.
• Vitamin C and magnesium are excluded from fortification scenario analyses as they are not commonly fortified.
• Sample data and specific row counts are unavailable, limiting assessment of dataset granularity and size.

Provenance

Source

Harvard Dataverse, from publications by Passarelli et al. (2022) and Friesen et al. (in press).

Collection Method

Estimates generated using mean micronutrient intakes from the Global Dietary Database and intake variability from Passarelli et al. (2022); fortification data from the Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx).

Freshness

Last updated in the Dataverse repository on 2026-02-05.

Geography

185 countries globally with subnational age-sex groups.