The Global Dietary Database

Overview

Comparable and standardized global data on intakes of foods, beverages, and nutrients relevant to chronic diseases have not traditionally been available across nations or key subnational subgroups, and those that do exist have shortcomings. To address these gaps, the Global Dietary Database (GDD) project was created to comprehensively identify, compile, and standardize individual-level data on global dietary factors relevant to health.

GDD is a large, collaborative, ongoing global project to collect, validate, and disseminate data on dietary intakes of major foods and nutrients for children and adults by age, sex, rural vs. urban residence, and level of education. These data capture the scope of the global nutrition transition, ranging from nutritional deficiencies to overnutrition.

This work has generated the most current and reliable estimates of food and nutrient consumption worldwide, particularly in poor and vulnerable populations, and provides reliable and robust data to inform global nutrition policy.

Project Aims

Aim One

To estimate individual food and nutrient intakes worldwide by country, year, age across the lifespan, sex, education level, and urban or rural residence.

Aim Two

To use generated estimates to understand disease burdens, identify high-impact interventions, and evaluate and improve public health and nutrition policies.

Aim Three

To create a public resource and dissemination platform for sharing intake estimates with all stakeholders in the global nutrition community.

Aim Four

To harmonize and publicly disseminate individual-level dietary data at their finest level.

Project Details

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Dariush Mozaffarian
Director, Food is Medicine Institute, Distinguished Professor, Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

Tufts Team

Jennifer Coates

Associate Professor, Food Policy and Applied Nutrition, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; Senior Researcher, Feinstein International Center

Frederick Cudhea

Statistical Programmer, Food Is Medicine Institute, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

Laura Lara-Castor

Doctoral Candidate, Food Is Medicine Institute, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

CONTACT PROJECT TEAM

Peilin Shi

Biostatistician, Food Is Medicine Institute, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

Julia Reedy Sharib

Senior Research Coordinator, Mozaffarian Research Team, Food Is Medicine Institute, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

Patrick Webb

Alexander McFarlane Professor of Nutrition, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

COLLABORATOR

Renata Micha

Associate Professor in Human Nutrition, University of Thessaly

Funder

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

TIMELINE

2015 – 2021

Websites

GLOBAL DIETARY DATABASE

Publications

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Ahles A, Muhammad A, Yenerall JN Global Dietary Database, et al How prices and income influence global patterns in saturated fat intake by age, sex and world region: a cross-sectional analysis of 160 countries BMJ Open 2024;14:e074562. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074562

Karageorgou D, Lara Castor L, Padula de Quadros V, et al. Harmonising dietary datasets for global surveillance: methods and findings from the Global Dietary Database. Public Health Nutrition. 2024;27(1):e47. doi:10.1017/S1368980024000211

Lara-Castor L, Micha R, Cudhea F, Miller V, Shi P, Zhang J, Sharib JR, Erndt-Marino J, Cash SB, Mozaffarian D; Global Dietary Database. Sugar-sweetened beverage intakes among adults between 1990 and 2018 in 185 countries. Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 3;14(1):5957. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41269-8. PMID: 37788998.

Miller V, Webb P, Cudhea F, Zhang J, Reedy J, Shi P, Erndt-Marino J, Coates J, Micha R, Mozaffarian D; Global Dietary Database. Children’s and adolescents’ rising animal-source food intakes in 1990-2018 were impacted by age, region, parental education and urbanicity. Nat Food. 2023 Apr;4(4):305-319. doi: 10.1038/s43016-023-00731-y. Epub 2023 Apr 20. PMID: 37117550.

Miller V, Webb P, Cudhea F, Shi P, Zhang J, Reedy J, Erndt-Marino J, Coates J, Mozaffarian D; Global Dietary Database. Global dietary quality in 185 countries from 1990 to 2018 show wide differences by nation, age, education, and urbanicity. Nat Food. 2022 Sep;3(9):694-702. doi: 10.1038/s43016-022-00594-9. Epub 2022 Sep 19. PMID: 37118151; PMCID: PMC10277807.

Miller V, Reedy J, Cudhea F, Zhang J, Shi P, Erndt-Marino J, Coates J, Micha R, Webb P, Mozaffarian D; Global Dietary Database. Global, regional, and national consumption of animal-source foods between 1990 and 2018: findings from the Global Dietary Database. Lancet Planet Health. 2022 Mar;6(3):e243-e256. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00352-1. PMID: 35278390; PMCID: PMC8926870.

Miller V, Micha R, Choi E, Karageorgou D, Webb P, Mozaffarian D. Evaluation of the Quality of Evidence of the Association of Foods and Nutrients With Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes: A Systematic Review. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(2):e2146705. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.46705

Sisa I, Abeyá-Gilardon E, Fisberg RM, Jackson MD, Mangialavori GL, Sichieri R, Cudhea F, Bannuru RR, Ruthazer R, Mozaffarian D, Singh GM. Impact of diet on CVD and diabetes mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean: a comparative risk assessment analysis. Public Health Nutr. 2021 Jun;24(9):2577-2591. doi: 10.1017/S1368980020000646. Epub 2020 Jun 3. PMID: 32489172; PMCID: PMC7710925.

Miller V, Singh GM, Onopa J, Reedy J, Shi P, Zhang J, Tahira A, Shulkin Morris ML, Marsden DP, Kranz S, Stoyell S, Webb P, Micha R, Mozaffarian D. Global Dietary Database 2017: data availability and gaps on 54 major foods, beverages and nutrients among 5.6 million children and adults from 1220 surveys worldwide. BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Feb;6(2):e003585. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003585. PMID: 33547175; PMCID: PMC7871251.

Jo G, Oh H, Singh GM, Park D, Shin MJ. Impact of dietary risk factors on cardiometabolic and cancer mortality burden among Korean adults: results from nationally representative repeated cross-sectional surveys 1998-2016. Nutr Res Pract. 2020 Aug;14(4):384-400. doi: 10.4162/nrp.2020.14.4.384. Epub 2020 May 6. PMID: 32765818; PMCID: PMC7390739.

Miller V, Webb P, Micha R, Mozaffarian D; Global Dietary Database. Defining diet quality: a synthesis of dietary quality metrics and their validity for the double burden of malnutrition. Lancet Planet Health. 2020 Aug;4(8):e352-e370. doi: 10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30162-5. PMID: 32800153; PMCID: PMC7435701.

Pimpin L, Kranz S, Liu E, Shulkin M, Karageorgou D, Miller V, Fawzi W, Duggan C, Webb P, Mozaffarian D. Effects of animal protein supplementation of mothers, preterm infants, and term infants on growth outcomes in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Aug 1;110(2):410-429. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy348. PMID: 31175810; PMCID: PMC6669064.

Karageorgou D, Miller V, Cudhea F, Zhang J, Shi P, Onopa J, Singh G, Mozaffarian D, Micha R. Estimated Global, Regional, and National Cardiometabolic Disease Burdens Related to Red and Processed Meat Consumption: An Analysis from the Global Dietary Database (P10-073-19). Curr Dev Nutr. 2019 Jun 13;3(Suppl 1):nzz034.P10-073-19. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzz034.P10-073-19. PMCID: PMC6574943.

Miller V, Cudhea F, Singh G, Micha R, Shi P, Zhang J, Onopa J, Karageorgou D, Webb P, Mozaffarian D. Estimated Global, Regional, and National Cardiovascular Disease Burdens Related to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption: An Analysis from the Global Dietary Database (FS01-01-19). Curr Dev Nutr. 2019 Jun 13;3(Suppl 1):nzz034.FS01-01-19. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzz034.FS01-01-19. PMCID: PMC6576084.

Wang DD, Li Y, Afshin A, Springmann M, Mozaffarian D, Stampfer MJ, Hu FB, Murray CJL, Willett WC. Global Improvement in Dietary Quality Could Lead to Substantial Reduction in Premature Death. J Nutr. 2019 Jun 1;149(6):1065-1074. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxz010. PMID: 31049577; PMCID: PMC6543201.

Karageorgou D, Imamura F, Zhang J, Shi P, Mozaffarian D, Micha R. Assessing dietary intakes from household budget surveys: A national analysis in Bangladesh. PLoS One. 2018 Aug 27;13(8):e0202831. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202831. PMID: 30148863; PMCID: PMC6110494.

Masters WA, Rosettie KL, Kranz S, Danaei G, Webb P, Mozaffarian D; Global Nutrition and Policy Consortium. Designing programs to improve diets for maternal and child health: estimating costs and potential dietary impacts of nutrition-sensitive programs in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and India. Health Policy Plan. 2018 May 1;33(4):564-573. doi: 10.1093/heapol/czy013. PMID: 29522103; PMCID: PMC5894071.

Masters WA, Rosettie K, Kranz S, Pedersen SH, Webb P, Danaei G, Mozaffarian D; Global Nutrition and Policy Consortium. Priority interventions to improve maternal and child diets in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Matern Child Nutr. 2018 Apr;14(2):e12526. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12526. Epub 2017 Oct 3. PMID: 28971572; PMCID: PMC5901374.

Liu E, Pimpin L, Shulkin M, Kranz S, Duggan CP, Mozaffarian D, Fawzi WW. Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Growth Outcomes in Children under 5 Years of Age. Nutrients. 2018 Mar 20;10(3):377. doi: 10.3390/nu10030377. PMID: 29558383; PMCID: PMC5872795.

Shulkin M, Pimpin L, Bellinger D, Kranz S, Fawzi W, Duggan C, Mozaffarian D. n-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation in Mothers, Preterm Infants, and Term Infants and Childhood Psychomotor and Visual Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Nutr. 2018 Mar 1;148(3):409-418. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxx031. PMID: 29546296; PMCID: PMC6251555.

Micha R, Coates J, Leclercq C, Charrondiere UR, Mozaffarian D. Global Dietary Surveillance: Data Gaps and Challenges. Food Nutr Bull. 2018 Jun;39(2):175-205. doi: 10.1177/0379572117752986. Epub 2018 Feb 25. PMID: 29478333.

Kranz S, Pimpin L, Fawzi W, Duggan C, Webb P, Mozaffarian D. Mortality Benefits of Vitamin A Are Not Affected by Varying Frequency, Total Dose, or Duration of Supplementation. Food Nutr Bull. 2017 Jun;38(2):260-266. doi: 10.1177/0379572117696663. Epub 2017 Mar 10. PMID: 28513263.

Cho Y, Cudhea F, Park JH, Mozaffarian D, Singh G, Shin MJ. Burdens of Cardiometabolic Diseases Attributable to Dietary and Metabolic Risks in Korean Adults 2012-2013. Yonsei Med J. 2017 May;58(3):540-551. doi: 10.3349/ymj.2017.58.3.540. PMID: 28332359; PMCID: PMC5368139.

Micha R, Shulkin ML, Peñalvo JL, Khatibzadeh S, Singh GM, Rao M, Fahimi S, Powles J, Mozaffarian D. Etiologic effects and optimal intakes of foods and nutrients for risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses from the Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). PLoS One. 2017 Apr 27;12(4):e0175149. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175149. PMID: 28448503; PMCID: PMC5407851.

Micha R, Peñalvo JL, Cudhea F, Imamura F, Rehm CD, Mozaffarian D. Association Between Dietary Factors and Mortality From Heart Disease, Stroke, and Type 2 Diabetes in the United States. JAMA. 2017 Mar 7;317(9):912-924. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.0947. PMID: 28267855; PMCID: PMC5852674.

Muhammad A, D’Souza A, Meade B, Micha R, Mozaffarian D. How income and food prices influence global dietary intakes by age and sex: evidence from 164 countries. BMJ Glob Health. 2017 Sep 15;2(3):e000184. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000184. PMID: 29225943; PMCID: PMC5717967.

Webb M, Fahimi S, Singh GM, Khatibzadeh S, Micha R, Powles J, Mozaffarian D. Cost effectiveness of a government supported policy strategy to decrease sodium intake: global analysis across 183 nations. BMJ. 2017 Jan 10;356:i6699. doi: 10.1136/bmj.i6699. PMID: 28073749; PMCID: PMC5225236.

Cho Y, Cudhea F, Park JH, Lee JT, Mozaffarian D, Singh G, Shin MJ. Estimating change in cardiovascular disease and diabetes burdens due to dietary and metabolic factors in Korea 1998-2011: a comparative risk assessment analysis. BMJ Open. 2016 Dec 21;6(12):e013283. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013283. PMID: 28003293; PMCID: PMC5223650.

Yakoob MY, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Singh GM, Shi P, Ahsan H, Balakrishna N, Brahmam GN, Chen Y, Afshin A, Fahimi S, Danaei G, Powles JW, Ezzati M, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors: Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group, and Metabolic Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases Collaborating Group. Impact of Dietary and Metabolic Risk Factors on Cardiovascular and Diabetes Mortality in South Asia: Analysis From the 2010 Global Burden of Disease Study. Am J Public Health. 2016 Dec;106(12):2113-2125. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303368. Epub 2016 Oct 13. PMID: 27736219; PMCID: PMC5104988.

Khatibzadeh S, Saheb Kashaf M, Micha R, Fahimi S, Shi P, Elmadfa I, Kalantarian S, Wirojratana P, Ezzati M, Powles J, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition; Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCode). A global database of food and nutrient consumption. Bull World Health Organ. 2016 Dec 1;94(12):931-934. doi: 10.2471/BLT.15.156323. Epub 2016 Sep 16. PMID: 27994286; PMCID: PMC5153920.

Otto MC, Afshin A, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Fahimi S, Singh G, Danaei G, Sichieri R, Monteiro CA, Louzada ML, Ezzati M, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Metabolic Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases Expert Group; Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). The Impact of Dietary and Metabolic Risk Factors on Cardiovascular Diseases and Type 2 Diabetes Mortality in Brazil. PLoS One. 2016 Mar 18;11(3):e0151503. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151503. PMID: 26990765; PMCID: PMC4798497.

Smith MR, Micha R, Golden CD, Mozaffarian D, Myers SS. Global Expanded Nutrient Supply (GENuS) Model: A New Method for Estimating the Global Dietary Supply of Nutrients. PLoS One. 2016 Jan 25;11(1):e0146976. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146976. PMID: 26807571; PMCID: PMC4726504.

Wang Q, Afshin A, Yakoob MY, Singh GM, Rehm CD, Khatibzadeh S, Micha R, Shi P, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). Impact of Nonoptimal Intakes of Saturated, Polyunsaturated, and Trans Fat on Global Burdens of Coronary Heart Disease. J Am Heart Assoc. 2016 Jan 20;5(1):e002891. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.115.002891. Erratum in: J Am Heart Assoc. 2016 Jan;5(1). pii: e002076. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.115.002076. Erratum in: J Am Heart Assoc. 2017 Nov 8;6(11): PMID: 26790695; PMCID: PMC4859401.

Smith MR, Singh GM, Mozaffarian D, Myers SS. Effects of decreases of animal pollinators on human nutrition and global health: a modelling analysis. Lancet. 2015 Nov 14;386(10007):1964-1972. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)61085-6. Epub 2015 Jul 15. PMID: 26188748.

Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Shi P, Andrews KG, Engell RE, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). Global, regional and national consumption of major food groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis including 266 country-specific nutrition surveys worldwide. BMJ Open. 2015 Sep 24;5(9):e008705. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008705. PMID: 26408285; PMCID: PMC4593162.

Singh GM, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Lim S, Ezzati M, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). Estimated Global, Regional, and National Disease Burdens Related to Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption in 2010. Circulation. 2015 Aug 25;132(8):639-66. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.010636. Epub 2015 Jun 29. PMID: 26124185; PMCID: PMC4550496.

Singh GM, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Shi P, Lim S, Andrews KG, Engell RE, Ezzati M, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). Global, Regional, and National Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Fruit Juices, and Milk: A Systematic Assessment of Beverage Intake in 187 Countries. PLoS One. 2015 Aug 5;10(8):e0124845. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124845. Erratum in: PLoS One. 2019 Mar 27;14(3):e0214344. PMID: 26244332; PMCID: PMC4526649.

Afshin A, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Fahimi S, Shi P, Powles J, Singh G, Yakoob MY, Abdollahi M, Al-Hooti S, Farzadfar F, Houshiar-Rad A, Hwalla N, Koksal E, Musaiger A, Pekcan G, Sibai AM, Zaghloul S, Danaei G, Ezzati M, Mozaffarian D; 2010 Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study: NUTRItrition and ChrOnic Diseases Expert Group (NUTRICODE), and Metabolic Risk Factors of ChrOnic Diseases Collaborating Group. The impact of dietary habits and metabolic risk factors on cardiovascular and diabetes mortality in countries of the Middle East and North Africa in 2010: a comparative risk assessment analysis. BMJ Open. 2015 May 20;5(5):e006385. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006385. Erratum in: BMJ Open. 2019 May 1;9(4):e006385corr1. PMID: 25995236; PMCID: PMC4442236.

Del Gobbo LC, Khatibzadeh S, Imamura F, Micha R, Shi P, Smith M, Myers SS, Mozaffarian D. Assessing global dietary habits: a comparison of national estimates from the FAO and the Global Dietary Database. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 May;101(5):1038-46. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.114.087403. Epub 2015 Mar 18. PMID: 25788002; PMCID: PMC4409685.

Imamura F, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Fahimi S, Shi P, Powles J, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). Dietary quality among men and women in 187 countries in 1990 and 2010: a systematic assessment. Lancet Glob Health. 2015 Mar;3(3):e132-42. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(14)70381-X. PMID: 25701991; PMCID: PMC4342410.

Mozaffarian D, Fahimi S, Singh GM, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Engell RE, Lim S, Danaei G, Ezzati M, Powles J; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group. Global sodium consumption and death from cardiovascular causes. N Engl J Med. 2014 Aug 14;371(7):624-34. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1304127. PMID: 25119608.

Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Shi P, Fahimi S, Lim S, Andrews KG, Engell RE, Powles J, Ezzati M, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group NutriCoDE. Global, regional, and national consumption levels of dietary fats and oils in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis including 266 country-specific nutrition surveys. BMJ. 2014 Apr 15;348:g2272. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g2272. Erratum in: BMJ. 2015;350:h1702. PMID: 24736206; PMCID: PMC3987052.

Powles J, Fahimi S, Micha R, Khatibzadeh S, Shi P, Ezzati M, Engell RE, Lim SS, Danaei G, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE). Global, regional and national sodium intakes in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis of 24 h urinary sodium excretion and dietary surveys worldwide. BMJ Open. 2013 Dec 23;3(12):e003733. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003733. PMID: 24366578; PMCID: PMC3884590.

Micha R, Kalantarian S, Wirojratana P, Byers T, Danaei G, Elmadfa I, Ding E, Giovannucci E, Powles J, Smith-Warner S, Ezzati M, Mozaffarian D; Global Burden of Diseases, Nutrition and Chronic Disease Expert Group. Estimating the global and regional burden of suboptimal nutrition on chronic disease: methods and inputs to the analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 Jan;66(1):119-29. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.147. Epub 2011 Sep 14. PMID: 21915137.