The global challenge: lack of metrics for monitoring healthy diets
Unhealthy diets are recognized globally as key contributors to morbidity and mortality. Concurrently, the decisions we make about what to eat carry extensive consequences for the health and sustainability of our planet. As food systems and diets evolve globally, the importance of monitoring what people eat has never been more critical. Yet, there is a lack of consensus on what constitutes healthy diets and how to measure them. This omission of healthy diet metrics for global monitoring is highly consequential.
Only by measuring can we truly know, and only by knowing can we act with clarity and purpose.
Our mission and objectives
In collective recognition of this challenge, the Healthy Diets Monitoring Initiative (HDMI), a partnership among FAO, UNICEF and WHO was established in 2022 with financial support by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Our mission is to enable national and global decision-makers and stakeholders to monitor and achieve healthy diets for people and the planet.
Healthy diets are critical for achieving global nutrition targets and the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 2 – ending malnutrition in all its forms
Our approach: towards consensus on healthy diet metrics
HDMI is committed to building consensus with national and global stakeholders to guide the generation of actionable, fit-for-purpose dietary data and statistics that can be used to inform evidence-based approaches, policies and programmes. We aim to achieve this by raising awareness, developing guidance for healthy diets monitoring, implementing a prioritized research agenda, and facilitating the uptake and use of metrics for assessing and monitoring diets.
