The majority of the world’s population has inadequate intake of micronutrients. A study published in the journal The Lancet estimates that more than 5 billion people do not consume enough iodine, vitamin E and calcium, and more than 4 billion people have a deficiency of iron, riboflavin, folate and vitamin E. C. Women intake less iodine, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, calcium, riboflavin, or folate than men. On the contrary, men have a lower intake of magnesium, vitamin B6, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin A, thiamine and niacin than women.
The lack of micronutrients, its authors warn, is one of the most common forms of malnutrition in the world, and has consequences for public health, from anemia due to lack of iron, to thyroid problems due to iodine deficiency, to the weakening of the immune due to lack of vitamin A and zinc, or fatigue and sleep disorders in the case of magnesium.
Achieving a balanced and varied diet that includes all the necessary nutrients is a challenge even in developed societies in which the pace of life invites the consumption of ultra-processed foods or foods of dubious nutritional value.
Certain intensive agricultural practices, such as the abuse of chemical fertilizers or overexploitation of soils, also contribute to a lower availability of these nutrients in plants. Instead, sustainable alternatives such as crop rotation, the use of organic fertilizers or biofortification (which enhances essential micronutrients in crops through sustainable agricultural, biotechnological or genetic techniques) contribute to improving the quality of the land, the nutritional composition of crops, food security and environmental protection.