NCD-Risk

Definition

The NCD-Risk score is an indicator of dietary risk factors for NCDs, based on consumption during the previous day or night of eight food groups that are negatively associated with meeting WHO recommendations on free sugar, salt, total and saturated fat, and red and processed meat. The score ranges from zero to nine expressed as an average score for the population age 15 years and older.

Relevance

Dietary risk factors for NCDs include consumption of >10% of dietary energy from free sugar/day, >5g of salt/day, >30% of total fat/day, >10% of dietary energy from saturated fat/day, >350-500g red meat/week, and any processed meat. A higher NCD-Risk score indicates inclusion of more foods and drinks to limit in the diet, and correlates negatively with meeting global dietary recommendations. The NCD-Risk score is also a proxy for ultra-processed food intake; a higher NCD-Risk score indicates higher ultraprocessed food consumption.