Children’s diets are missing the plant foods they need to thrive – Earth.com
07-11-2026
Children’s diets are missing the plant foods they need to thrive
ByEric Ralls
Earth.com staff writer
Children around the world are not eating enough fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and other healthy plant foods, according to the largest study yet to track diets from infancy through adolescence
The research, which analyzed dietary data from 185 countries, found that plant food intake remains low almost everywhere
It also uncovered an unexpected trend: in wealthier countries, children often eat fewer plant foods as they get older, even as their nutritional needs increase
Because the study follows children at every stage of development, it reveals not only where diets fall short but also when they begin to slip
That clearer picture could help governments and health officials better target nutrition programs during the years they matter most
Not enough plant foods
In 2018, the most recent year the study covers, young people everywhere fell short
Averaged across childhood and adolescence, they ate about 2.8 servings of healthful plant foods a day, and no age group anywhere topped roughly 3.5 servings. Infants under one managed barely more than one serving
The analysis was led by Sydney Yearley, a doctoral researcher at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University
Her team drew on a database of 1,248 dietary surveys collected from 185 countries, covering almost the entire world’s population
Those early years carry outsized weight for later health. “Our study shows that children around the world aren’t eating enough healthy plant foods, and that’s a missed opportunity,” Yearley told Earth.com
How diets change with age
Across every age, non-starchy vegetables made up the largest share of what children ate, ahead of fruit, beans, nuts, and seeds
Researchers adjusted the totals to account for the different energy needs of children at different ages. That means a teenager’s higher count reflects a genuinely better-stocked plate, not just a bigger appetite
In most parts of the world, intake climbed steadily from infancy to the late teens, close to a threefold rise
No previous global study had followed multiple plant foods across the whole of childhood, from the first solid meals through adolescence, so this age-by-age picture is new
The wealthy-country reversal
One group broke that trend. In high-income countries, the youngest children ate the most plant foods, then intake fell as they got older
Babies under one averaged about 3.8 servings a day. That dropped to roughly 1.7 servings among children ages five to nine before recovering only to about 2.1 by the late teens
Evidence from individual countries points in the same direction. In the United States, one analysis of national survey data found that the share of children who ate any fruit on a given day declined steadily from the toddler years into the late teens
Why the youngest children in wealthy countries eat the most plant foods is still unclear
“As children grow older, they gain more independence and are increasingly surrounded by restaurants, convenience foods, advertising, and highly processed snacks,” Yearley told Earth.com
Where children eat best
Where a child lived counted as much as age. Children in South Asia ate the fewest plant foods at almost every age
Those in East and Southeast Asia ate the most, supported by a steady supply of vegetables from early childhood onward
The spread among individual countries was wide. Among the world’s 25 most populous nations, children and adolescents ate the fewest plant-based foods in Spain, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom
Children in Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mexico ate the most healthy plant foods, averaging more than five servings a day
The youngest children ate the least in Pakistan, India, and Ethiopia, where fruit and vegetables were scarce, and the most in France, Germany, and Italy. Wherever totals were high, fruits and vegetables accounted for most of the servings
Who gets more plant foods
Beneath the national numbers, the same social patterns appeared repeatedly. Girls ate slightly more fruit and vegetables than boys in most regions
Children in cities ate more fruit, nuts, and seeds than rural children, and those in better-educated households ate more of nearly every plant food, except beans and legumes
The long view offered a little encouragement. Compared with 1990, young people in 2018 ate more vegetables and more nuts and seeds, and their overall plant food intake edged up
Starchy vegetables were the exception, falling worldwide, while beans and fruit barely changed
A roadmap for better nutrition
The study gives childhood nutrition its first global map of these foods across the entire span from infancy to adulthood, broken down by sex, schooling, and where children live
Now the picture is global. It confirms that intake is low almost everywhere, and it pinpoints exactly where and when diets fall short. That level of detail could change what governments do
Asked by Earth.com what would help families maintain healthy eating habits, Yearley said the study was not designed to test specific interventions
However, she said it underscores the need for solutions that make healthy foods more affordable, accessible, and convenient
The right fix looks different from place to place. Rich countries now have a reason to extend the early-life feeding support that seems to protect the youngest children well into the school years, when produce intake sags
Nations across South Asia have a clearer case for expanding access to affordable vegetables
Healthy habits last a lifetime
The problem extends beyond low plant food intake. A related study of the same 185 countries found that sugary drink intake among children and teenagers rose over the same decades that plant food consumption stalled
That means children’s diets are shifting toward the very products these foods should be crowding out
Children often carry the eating habits they develop early in life into adulthood. Eating too few plant foods during childhood can slow growth, weaken immunity, and increase the risk of obesity and diabetes later in life
The map the study draws highlights the children and the ages when a small change to the daily plate could do the most good
The study is published in the journal BMJ Global Health
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