Laboratory of Sustainable Food Processing, ETH Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India.
Nutrients. 2019 Apr 16;11(4):856. doi: 10.3390/nu11040856.
Demand side interventions, such as dietary change, can significantly contribute towards the achievement of 2030 national sustainable development goals. However, most previous studies analysing the consequences of dietary change focus on a single dimension of sustainability (e.g., environment) using a limited number of indicators and dietary scenarios. A multi-dimension and multi-indicator analysis can identify the potential trade-offs. Here, starting from the current food consumption data (year 2011), we first designed nine alternative dietary scenarios (healthy Swiss diet, healthy global diet, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, flexitarian, protein-oriented and meat-oriented diets and a food greenhouse gas tax diet). Next we calculated three nutritional quality (nutrient balance score, disqualifying nutrient score, percent population with adequate nutrition), five environmental (greenhouse gas, water, land, nitrogen and phosphorus use), one economic (daily food expenditure) and one human health indicator (DALYs) for current and alternative diets. We found that transition towards a healthy diet following the guidelines of Swiss society of nutrition is the most sustainable option and is projected to result in 36% lesser environmental footprint, 33% lesser expenditure and 2.67% lower adverse health outcome (DALYs) compared with the current diet. On the other extreme, transition towards a meat or protein oriented diet can lead to large increases in diet related adverse health outcomes, environmental footprint, daily food expenditure and a reduction in intakes of essential nutrients (for Vitamin C, Fibre, Potassium and Calcium). We found that shifting to the vegetarian and vegan diet scenarios might lead to a reduction in intakes of certain micronutrients currently supplied primarily by animal-sourced foods (Vitamin B, Choline and Calcium). Results show that achieving a sustainable diet would entail a high reduction in the intake of meat and vegetable oils and a moderate reduction in cereals, roots and fish products and at the same time increased intake of legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables. We identify several current data and research gaps that need to be filled in order to get more accurate results. Overall, our analysis underscores the need to consider multiple indicators while assessing the dietary sustainability and provides a template to conduct such studies in other countries and settings. Future efforts should focus on assessing the potential of different interventions and policies that can help transition the population from current to sustainable dietary patterns.
需求方干预措施,如饮食改变,可以为实现 2030 年国家可持续发展目标做出重大贡献。然而,大多数先前分析饮食改变后果的研究都只关注可持续性的单一维度(例如环境),使用的指标和饮食方案也很有限。多维和多指标分析可以发现潜在的权衡。在这里,我们从当前的食物消费数据(2011 年)出发,首先设计了九种替代饮食方案(瑞士健康饮食、全球健康饮食、素食、纯素、鱼素、杂食、以蛋白质为导向的饮食和以肉类为导向的饮食,以及一种食物温室气体税饮食)。接下来,我们为当前和替代饮食计算了三个营养质量(营养平衡评分、不合格营养素评分、营养充足人口百分比)、五个环境(温室气体、水、土地、氮和磷利用)、一个经济(每日食物支出)和一个人类健康指标(DALYs)。我们发现,遵循瑞士营养学会指南向健康饮食转变是最可持续的选择,预计与当前饮食相比,环境足迹减少 36%,支出减少 33%,不良健康后果(DALYs)降低 2.67%。另一方面,向肉类或蛋白质为导向的饮食转变可能会导致与饮食相关的不良健康后果、环境足迹、每日食物支出以及某些必需营养素(维生素 C、纤维、钾和钙)摄入量的大幅增加。我们发现,转向素食和纯素饮食方案可能会导致某些微量营养素的摄入量减少,这些微量营养素目前主要来自动物源性食物(维生素 B、胆碱和钙)。结果表明,实现可持续饮食需要大幅减少肉类和植物油的摄入量,适度减少谷物、根茎和鱼类产品的摄入量,同时增加豆类、坚果、种子、水果和蔬菜的摄入量。我们确定了一些需要填补的当前数据和研究空白,以便获得更准确的结果。总体而言,我们的分析强调了在评估饮食可持续性时需要考虑多个指标,并为在其他国家和环境中进行此类研究提供了模板。未来的工作应侧重于评估不同干预措施和政策的潜力,以帮助人口从当前饮食模式向可持续饮食模式转变。