Table.

Dietary risk factor exposure definitions, optimal level, and data representativeness index, 1990–2017

	Exposure definition	Optimal level of intake (optimal range of intake)	Data representativeness index (%)
Diet low in fruits	Mean daily consumption of fruits (fresh, frozen, cooked, canned, or dried fruits, excluding fruit juices and salted or pickled fruits)	250 g (200–300) per day	94·9
Diet low in vegetables	Mean daily consumption of vegetables (fresh, frozen, cooked, canned, or dried vegetables, excluding legumes and salted or pickled vegetables, juices, nuts, seeds, and starchy vegetables such as potatoes or corn)	360 g (290–430) per day	94·9
Diet low in legumes	Mean daily consumption of legumes (fresh, frozen, cooked, canned, or dried legumes)	60 g (50–70) per day	94·9
Diet low in whole grains	Mean daily consumption of whole grains (bran, germ, and endosperm in their natural proportion) from breakfast cereals, bread, rice, pasta, biscuits, muffins, tortillas, pancakes, and other sources	125 g (100–150) per day	94·9
Diet low in nuts and seeds	Mean daily consumption of nut and seed foods	21 g (16–25) per day	94·9
Diet low in milk	Mean daily consumption of milk including non-fat, low-fat, and full-fat milk, excluding soy milk and other plant derivatives	435 g (350–520) per day	94·9
Diet high in red meat	Mean daily consumption of red meat (beef, pork, lamb, and goat, but excluding poultry, fish, eggs, and all processed meats)	23 g (18–27) per day	94·9
Diet high in processed meat	Mean daily consumption of meat preserved by smoking, curing, salting, or addition of chemical preservatives	2 g (0–4) per day	36·9
Diet high in sugar-sweetened beverages	Mean daily consumption of beverages with ≥50 kcal per 226·8 serving, including carbonated beverages, sodas, energy drinks, fruit drinks, but excluding 100% fruit and vegetable juices	3 g (0–5) per day	36·9
Diet low in fibre	Mean daily intake of fibre from all sources including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and pulses	24 g (19–28) per day	94·9
Diet low in calcium	Mean daily intake of calcium from all sources, including milk, yogurt, and cheese	1·25 g (1·00–1·50) per day	94·9
Diet low in seafood omega-3 fatty acids	Mean daily intake of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid	250 mg (200–300) per day	94·9
Diet low in polyunsaturated fatty acids	Mean daily intake of omega-6 fatty acids from all sources, mainly liquid vegetable oils, including soybean oil, corn oil, and safflower oil	11% (9–13) of total daily energy	94·9
Diet high in trans fatty acids	Mean daily intake of trans fat from all sources, mainly partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and ruminant products	0·5% (0·0–1·0) of total daily energy	36·9
Diet high in sodium	24 h urinary sodium measured in g per day	3 g (1–5) per day*	26·2

^*To reflect the uncertainty in existing evidence on optimal level of intake for sodium, 1–5 g per day was considered as the uncertainty range for the optimal level of sodium where less than 2·3 g per day is the intake level of sodium associated with the lowest level of blood pressure in randomised controlled trials and 4–5 g per day is the level of sodium intake associated with the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease in observational studies.