What do Thai people eat, according to national surveys?

National surveys and Thai university studies give figures that can be set next to reference values for vegetables and fruit, sodium and calcium. In Thailand's third National Health Examination Survey, only about a quarter of people aged 15 and over ate 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. A nationwide urine survey estimated that adults eat 3,636 mg of sodium a day, against a Thai Reference Daily Intake (Thai RDI) of 2,000 mg, and adults in the rural Northeast got 266 to 379 mg of calcium a day, against a Thai RDI of 1,000 mg. Data on sugar are inconsistent, and a 2018 review called for a new national survey.

This article gathers these figures in one place, with the year, the people studied and the limits of each study. For the Thai RDIs themselves, see What are the Thai daily reference amounts for each nutrient?

The figures at a glance

Where do these figures come from?

The figures come from two kinds of source: national surveys that sample people from every region, and smaller studies of one group or one area. Each measures intake in its own way, so they are best read side by side rather than added together.

The studies used in this article

What the methods can and cannot show

Questionnaires and food records depend on what people remember and report, and people tend to under-report. Urine collection is a more direct measure for sodium, but not everyone selected completes it. Supply figures, such as sugar available per person, show what entered the food supply, not what each person ate. The smaller studies cover one city or one region.

Do Thai people eat enough vegetables and fruit?

For comparison, the UK's NHS recommends at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables a day, with a portion being 80 g, and explains that the 5 A Day advice is based on an international recommendation of at least 400 g a day.

The third national health survey

The NHES III analysis by Satheannoppakao and colleagues at Mahidol University interviewed 39,290 people aged 15 and over, chosen to represent the country. On average, people ate fruit on 4.56 days a week and vegetables on 5.97 days. They ate 1.46 servings of fruit, 1.78 servings of vegetables and 3.24 servings of both a day.

Intake was lower among men (except for vegetables), older people, people with less education, people with lower household income and people living in rural areas. The survey used a short questionnaire, and the data are now some years old.

People aged 60 and over

A 2018 national household survey analysed by Phulkerd and colleagues at Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research included 2,048 people aged 60 and over. Only 31.9% ate at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day.

People who lived alone were the least likely to eat enough; those who lived with at least one child were 2.7 times as likely to do so. Intake was self-reported.

Variety in older people's diets

An analysis of NHES V, conducted from 2013 to 2015, scored how often 7,300 people aged 60 and over ate eight food groups, on a scale of 0 to 32. The average score was 18.4. Scores were higher among people with more education, more wealth and those living in cities, and lower among those living alone.

For ideas on adding vegetables and fibre to Thai meals, see Eating few vegetables? How can you add fibre to Thai meals?

How much sugar do Thai people eat?

The figures available differ widely depending on how they were measured: 83 g of sugar supplied per person per day, against reported intakes of about 2 to 20 g. A 2018 review by Kriengsinyos and colleagues, led from Mahidol University's Institute of Nutrition, gathered 24 sources, including 8 nationally representative reports and 16 individual studies, and found that the results were inconsistent. The review was funded by the International Life Sciences Institute Southeast Asia Region (ILSI SEA), and two of its three authors are ILSI SEA employees; the authors state that the funder had no role in the study design or analysis.

Supply and reported intake

The gap between 83 g of supply and a median of a few grams to 20 g of reported intake shows how much the method matters. The review notes that most studies used food frequency questionnaires or a single 24-hour recall, and that many were old or small.

Where the sugar comes from

The review found that the most frequently consumed sources were table sugar, sweetened drinks and sweet snacks, including traditional desserts, baked goods and crispy snacks. It concluded that a new national survey with better methods, such as at least two 24-hour recalls and biomarkers, is needed.

How much salt and sodium do Thai people eat?

Sodium measured in urine

A nationwide survey by Chailimpamontree and colleagues, including researchers from Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, selected 2,388 adults aged 18 and over from the North, South, Northeast, Central region and Bangkok, and measured sodium in 24-hour urine collections. Among the 1,599 (67%) who completed the collection, average sodium intake was 3,636 mg a day. Higher intake was associated with younger age and higher education.

Potassium in urine averaged 1,221 mg a day, with little difference between regions; this is the amount passed in urine, not the amount eaten. The researchers added 10% to the urine sodium to allow for sodium lost in other ways.

Salt from home and from processed food

A study by the Bureau of Nutrition of Thailand's Department of Health, published in 2021, combined national consumption data with the salt content of products and estimated the daily salt intake from household salt and salt used by the food industry, including salty condiments.

Iodised food-grade salt has been required in Thailand since 1994, and fish sauce, soy sauce and seasoning sauces may be iodised directly. These figures come from a model, not from measuring individuals. For more on sodium in Thai food, see Love salty food and can't cut back? What can you do?

How much protein, fat and fibre do Thai adults eat?

Office workers in Bangkok

A 2014 study from Mahidol University's Faculty of Public Health looked at 215 healthy office workers aged 20 to 50 at four workplaces in Bangkok, using one 24-hour recall and a 2-day food record.

The participants were a convenience sample from one city, chosen because they were easy to reach, and the intakes were self-reported.

Comparison with the national survey

The authors compared their results with the fourth National Health Examination Survey (NHES IV). They report that NHES IV found fibre intakes of 7.5 g a day in men and 8.5 g in women, and carbohydrate at 52.7% and 55.5% of energy, close to their own figures. They also cite Thai nutrition surveys showing protein rising from 10% of daily energy in 1960 to 16% in 2009, and fat from 8.9% to 28%. These NHES IV figures are as reported by the authors, not taken from the survey report itself.

For plant sources of protein, see Which plant foods have protein? How much do you need a day?

How much calcium do Thai people get?

Adults in the rural Northeast

A 2008 study from Khon Kaen University by Pongchaiyakul and colleagues used 3-day food records and an interviewer-led food questionnaire of 73 items with 436 healthy adults aged 20 to 85 in the rural Northeast. Average calcium intake was 378.6 mg a day in men and 265.6 mg in women. 67% of men and 87% of women got less than 400 mg a day, and only 6% of men and 3% of women got more than 800 mg.

The study covered rural areas of one region.

Office workers and the national survey

In the 2014 Bangkok study, only 24.0% of men and 18.6% of women met the calcium value of the Thai Dietary Reference Intakes, a separate set of values from the Thai RDIs. The authors cite NHES IV as finding calcium intakes of only about 30% of that value among adults aged 19 to 59, with only 24.1% consuming milk and dairy products. The Thai RDI for calcium is 1,000 mg a day.

What do Thailand's nine dietary guidelines (โภชนบัญญัติ 9 ประการ) recommend?

Nine guidelines and the Nutrition Flag

A 2011 paper by Sirichakwal and colleagues from Mahidol University's Institute of Nutrition describes Thailand's food-based dietary guidelines, known in Thai as โภชนบัญญัติ 9 ประการ and promoted from 1996. There are nine; the list below is a translation of the English text in the paper, not the official Thai text:

1. Eat a variety of foods from each of the five food groups, and keep a suitable body weight.
2. Eat enough rice or other carbohydrate foods.
3. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit regularly.
4. Eat fish, lean meat, eggs, legumes and pulses regularly.
5. Drink enough milk every day.
6. Eat moderate amounts of fat.
7. Avoid too much sweet and salty food.
8. Eat clean food that is not contaminated.
9. Avoid or cut down on alcoholic drinks.

In 1998 the guidelines were turned into a picture guide called the Nutrition Flag (ธงโภชนาการ). The paper notes that there has been no formal evaluation of the impact of promoting the guidelines.

The guidelines next to the survey figures

How should these numbers be read?

They describe groups, not individuals

Every figure here is an average or a share for a group of people. Your own diet may be quite different. The Thai RDIs are a single reference value for the general population aged 3 and over, on a 2,000 kcal diet, and are not split by sex or age.

They come from different years and methods

The studies were published between 2008 and 2022, with data collected in different years and by different methods. Diets change over time, so the older figures show patterns rather than today's exact numbers. Where only one region or one city was studied, the result may not apply to the whole country.

When to ask a professional

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, take regular medication, or have been told by a doctor to follow a particular diet, talk to a doctor, dietitian or pharmacist before making large changes to your diet.