A global analysis of nearly 30 years of data across 185 countries has found that children worldwide are not eating enough healthy plant-based foods, with the United States showing a particularly unusual pattern where consumption drops sharply as they get older.
Researchers from Tufts University examined dietary trends from 1990 to 2018, using a global dietary database that compiles information from more than 1,200 surveys. The team focused on what young people from birth to age 19 ate, including fruits, non-starchy vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Published in a journal, the findings show that children under one year old eat about 1.19 servings of plant-based foods daily.
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Teens aged 15 to 19 consume 3.55 servings, with little difference between boys and girls.
US children fall behind as they age
In most countries, plant-based food intake rises as children grow older. The US is a stark exception. US infants start strong, but then intake declines through childhood and into adolescence.
Sydney Yearley, an M.D./Ph.D. student at Tufts and the report’s first author, noted that the pattern reveals something important about how diets change. “Early in life, children mostly eat the foods their parents and caregivers provide, and many families benefit from nutrition guidance and programs that encourage healthy eating,” Yearley said.
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“As children grow older, they gain more independence and are increasingly surrounded by restaurants, convenience foods, advertising, and highly processed snacks. Together, these changes may make it harder to maintain the healthy eating habits established early in life.”
The contrast between high-income and lower-income countries is sharp.
In Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mexico — the top three countries for plant-based intake — South Asia has the lowest rates overall.
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Wealthy nations face an uncomfortable reality in the data. Having more food available and greater purchasing power does not automatically translate into better diets for children. Yearley put it bluntly: the findings are a reminder that more food does not always mean better eating.
The real barriers go beyond access
“Higher-income countries often have greater purchasing power and food availability, but children’s diets are shaped by many factors beyond access, including convenience, advertising, peer and family influence, school food environments, and cultural norms, to name a few,” Yearley said.
The health stakes are high.
