Billions of people are deficient in essential micronutrients

More than half of people around the world aren't getting enough micronutrients essential to human health, including calcium, iron and vitamins C and E, a new study says.

These deficiencies are contributing to global malnutrition, as well as health problems like blindness, increased vulnerability to infections, and pregnancy complications, researchers said in The Lancet Global Health.

"These results are alarming," researcher Ty Beal , a senior technical specialist at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, said in a news release.

"Most people -- even more than previously thought, across all regions and countries of all incomes -- are not consuming enough of multiple essential micronutrients," Beal said. "These gaps compromise health outcomes and limit human potential on a global scale."

For the study, researchers combined data from several sources to compare the nutritional intake of people in 185 countries.

The team specifically assessed intake of 15 vitamins and minerals -- calcium, iodine, iron, riboflavin, folate, zinc, magnesium, selenium, thiamin, niacin, and vitamins A, B6 , B12, C and E.

Researchers found widespread inadequate intake of iodine (68% of the world's population); vitamin E (67%); calcium (66%); and iron (65%).

More than half of people consume inadequate levels of riboflavin, folate, and vitamins C and B6, researchers added.

Intake of niacin was closest to sufficient, with 22% of people worldwide consuming too little, followed by thiamin (30%) and selenium (37%).

"The public health challenge facing us is immense, but practitioners and policymakers have the opportunity to identify the most effective dietary interventions and target them to the populations most in need," senior author Christopher Golden , associate professor of nutrition and planetary health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release.

Women were more likely than men to get too little iodine, vitamin B12, iron and selenium, results indicate.

On the other hand, men weren't getting enough niacin, thiamin, zinc, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, and B6 compared to women, researchers said.

Children and young adults 10 to 30 were most prone to low calcium intake, especially in South and East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Calcium intake was also low across North America, Europe and Central Asia.

"Our study is a big step forward," co-lead author Chris Free , a research professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara, said in a news release. "Not only because it is the first to estimate inadequate micronutrient intakes for 34 age-sex groups in nearly every country, but also because it makes these methods and results easily accessible to researchers and practitioners."

More information

The World Health Organization has more about malnutrition .

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