Healthy Diets Monitoring Initiative (HDMI)
Unhealthy diets are recognized worldwide as major drivers of morbidity and mortality. At the same time, our food choices have far-reaching implications for both human health and planetary sustainability. As diets and food systems rapidly evolve, tracking dietary patterns globally has become more critical than ever. Yet, there remains little consensus on what defines a healthy diet or how best to measure dietary quality. This lack of standardized metrics for assessing healthy diets poses significant challenges for global monitoring efforts.
Only by measuring can we truly know, and only by knowing can we act with clarity and purpose.
Our mission
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.
60+
countries
150+
experts engaged
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.
Monitoring healthy diets is the first step toward understanding and addressing dietary challenges within a population.