Netherlands tops Oxfam ranking with most plentiful, healthy food

To better understand the challenges that people face in eating healthy, advocacy group Oxfam ranked 125 countries on everything from malnutrition rates to average food prices to compile a global snapshot of the best and worst places to eat.

According to Oxfam's "Good Enough to Eat" index, the Netherlands is the best place in the world for healthy eating. The Netherlands ranked as the easiest country in the world in which to find a balanced, nutritious diet, the England-based anti-poverty nonprofit announced last week.

France and Switzerland shared the second slot, helping Western Europe to dominate the top 20 positions, with the exception of Australia edging into a tie for 8th. Chad landed last on the list for its costly, unhealthy food options.

So where, exactly, does that leave the United States?

The U.S. tied with Japan at No. 21 for its residents' ability to access a balanced, nutritious diet. The report indicated that the price of food in the U.S. is relatively the cheapest and most stable in the world.

To compile the index, a group of researchers looked at four core concerns for consumers around the world:

The fourth concern was measured by analyzing diabetes and obesity rates in each country — and unsurprisingly, that's where the U.S. failed, ranking 120th out of 125 countries.

Here are the highest and lowest scoring countries overall: 

Highest
1. Netherlands
2. France, Switzerland
3. Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium

Lowest
1. Chad
2. Ethiopia, Angola
3. Madagascar

[Oxfam]