WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The World Health Organization defines micronutrients as vitamins and minerals needed by the body in small amounts, with deficiency in any of them leading to severe and even life-threatening conditions.
According to researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, UC Santa Barbara, and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, most people across the world are deficient in these crucial micronutrients.
'Most people - even more than previously thought, across all regions and countries of all incomes - are not consuming enough of multiple essential micronutrients,' said Ty Beal, senior technical specialist at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. 'These gaps compromise health outcomes and limit human potential on a global scale.'
For the study, researchers used data from the Global Dietary Database, the World Bank, and dietary recall surveys in 31 countries to compare nutritional requirements with nutritional intake of 15 key micronutrients - calcium, iodine, iron, riboflavin, folate, zinc, magnesium, selenium, thiamin, niacin and vitamins A, B6, B12, C and E.
The findings, published in the The Lancet Global Health, revealed that 68 percent of the world's population lacked adequate iodine, 67 percent were deficient in vitamin E, 66 percent lacked sufficient calcium, and 65 percent were deficient in iron.
The study also highlighted gender disparities with women consuming less iodine, vitamin B12, iron and selenium, than men, while the men had lower intakes of calcium, niacin, thiamin, zinc, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, and B6 compared to women.
Notably, lower intake of calcium was widespread across North America, Europe, and Central Asia. Also, more than half of global population is not getting enough riboflavin, folate and vitamins C and B6.
'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,' commented senior author Christopher Golden, associate professor of nutrition and planetary health at Harvard Chan School.
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