Search Results (10)

Background/Objectives: The EAT-Lancet Commission proposed a healthy and sustainable ‘planetary health diet’ (PHD) based on the nutritional needs of adults, but recommended for all population groups over the age of two years. This study investigated the extent to which UK adolescent diets meet these recommendations, and the association between meeting recommendations and nutritional intake. Methods: Dietary intake data collected from students aged 11–15 years between 2019 and 2022 as part of the Food provision, cUlture and Environment in secondary schooLs (FUEL) study was used. Specifically, 24 h intakes of food groups and key nutrients were summarised for each participant, and micronutrient intake was expressed as a percentage of the reference nutrient intake (RNI). The proportion of participants meeting each PHD recommendation was calculated. A PHD index score was developed to measure the overall adherence to recommendations. Multilevel linear regression models were fitted to explore the association between the PHD score and intake of each nutrient. Results: No participants fully met the recommendations. The mean PHD score was 14.2 (3.3) out of 39. Adherence was low for the emphasised foods, and lowest for nuts (1.3%) and unsaturated oils (0.2%). Higher PHD index scores were associated with lower intakes of all micronutrients, with the largest association for vitamin B12 [regression coefficient: −12.9% (95% CI: −16.3, −9.4) of RNI] and the smallest for vitamin D [regression coefficient: −0.4 (95% CI: −0.7, −0.2) of RNI]. Conclusions: Substantial dietary changes are needed for this population group to meet the PHD guidelines. Further research should focus on why these recommendations may lead to the inadequate intake of some nutrients in this age group. We propose that the PHD guidance needs to be reviewed and potentially adapted for this specific population, with consideration of the typical dietary behaviours of this age group. Full article

Background: Childhood obesity is a critical public health challenge with a rising prevalence worldwide, contributing to numerous health risks and long-term societal burdens. Concurrently, climate change and environmental degradation demand sustainable approaches to dietary patterns. The Planetary Health Diet (PHD), initially designed for adults, emphasizes plant-based foods and sustainable practices. Objectives: This review explores the suitability of the PHD for addressing childhood obesity by assessing its nutritional adequacy and proposing necessary adaptations for pediatric populations. Methods: A narrative review methodology was employed, examining data from global and regional nutritional guidelines and evaluating the PHD’s bromatological composition against age-specific requirements. Results: The findings indicate that while the PHD aligns with environmental goals, it may not fully meet the energy and specific nutrient needs of children and adolescents without modifications. Key challenges include ensuring adequate intake of bioavailable protein, iron, calcium, vitamin B12, and vitamin D. Strategies such as incorporating fortified foods, optimizing food pairings, and gradual adaptation to high-fiber diets are critical for successful implementation. This review also highlights the importance of cultural adaptability, family involvement, and regional food systems in promoting adherence. Tailored interventions, such as school meal programs and educational initiatives, can bridge gaps in nutrition while fostering sustainable dietary behaviors. Conclusions: Adapting the PHD for pediatric needs presents an opportunity to integrate nutritional health with environmental stewardship, contributing to obesity prevention and a sustainable future. Further research is required to validate these adaptations and develop comprehensive frameworks for global implementation. Full article

To promote sustainable food choices, it is essential to provide easily understandable information that integrates health, environmental impacts and planetary boundaries. For this purpose, the Planet Health Conformity Index (PHC) was developed and tested. Current labels, such as the Nutri-Score for health and the Eco-Score for environmental impacts, provide separate information, which may result in consumers receiving conflicting messages. The PHC combines these dimensions into a single label, aligning with consumer demand for clearer guidance and fostering sustainable food consumption and development. Methods: The PHC assesses 18 nutrients and five environmental impacts—Global Warming Potential (GWP), cropland use, freshwater use, nitrogen application (N-min) and phosphorus application (P-min)—within the framework of planetary boundaries. Six different algorithm designs, varying in capping and weighting, were tested on 125 food products from the German market. The analysis compared mass-, energy- and multi-nutrient-based functional units. Results: Under mass- and energy-based units, many products meet planetary boundaries. However, incorporating nutrient profiles often leads to exceeding these boundaries (exceedance rate PHC: GWP: 38% of products transgressed the boundary, cropland use: 41%, freshwater use: 27%, N-min: 34%, P-min: 71%). Accordingly, the PHC contextualizes nutritional strengths and weaknesses environmentally. Moreover, it disaggregates the Planetary Health Diet (PHD) at the nutrient level, facilitating adaptation to individual nutritional needs. Conclusions: Traditional food Life Cycle Assessments should include nutrients in the functional unit and consider planetary boundaries to enable more accurate food comparisons. The PHC presented here takes these aspects into account. In addition, its dual-factor approach, integrating health and environmental metrics, ensures broad applicability. Thus, the PHC Index can be applied not only to single food items but also to recipes, dishes, menus and entire diets. Full article

The EAT–Lancet “Planetary Health Diet” (PHD) proposes dietary recommendations to address health and environmental concerns, including reducing meat consumption. However, in Brazil, where meat holds cultural significance, the feasibility of these recommendations is questionable. This study aimed to examine meat consumption across the five Brazilian regions through the lens of the PHD, considering regionalisms and social inequalities. Using data from the 2017–2018 Household Budget Survey (POF), we estimated meat consumption. A multiple logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the association between excessive meat consumption and sociodemographic factors, such as region of the country, sex, per capita income profile, and level of Food and Nutrition Security (FNS). Our results reveal that meat consumption exceeds recommendations in all Brazilian regions. To effectively promote healthier and more sustainable diets, public health interventions must consider regional disparities and the cultural significance of meat. Policies should prioritize food justice and address the underlying social and economic factors that drive meat consumption. Full article

Background/Objectives: The “One Health” approach underscores the connection between human, animal, and environmental health, promoting solutions to global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss. The Planetary Health Diet (PHD) promotes a plant-based diet with organically grown plants to reduce the environmental impact of meat production and decrease the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The BIOQUALIM project will evaluate the PHD’s effectiveness in preventing NCDs like periodontal diseases and cancers through four inter-related studies. Methods: The clinical study will involve volunteers reducing their meat consumption and incorporating einkorn into their diet, allow for analysis of their interdental microbiota, oral health, general health, and quality of life. The chemical analysis will study nutrients and anti-cancer compounds in einkorn and common wheat varieties. The behavioral study will explore PHD knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to PHD. The psycho-social study will evaluate the impact of peer-support workshops on plant-based dietary cooking among post-therapy cancer patients. Results: The results are expected to demonstrate that einkorn varieties possess nutritional properties that, when incorporated into the PHD enriched with einkorn, can enhance health markers. This study will identify barriers to and facilitators of PHD adoption and highlight how peer-support workshops can improve dietary adherence. Conclusions: BIOQUALIM’s transdisciplinary approach will demonstrate the PHD’s role in preventing NCDs. Full article

Global warming poses a significant threat to our planet, with the food sector contributing up to 37% of total greenhouse gas emissions. This study aimed to assess the climate change impact and healthiness of menus in a long-term care facility in Italy. We analyzed two 28-day cyclical menus using the carbon footprint (CF) and the Modified EAT-Lancet Diet Score (MELDS) to evaluate adherence to the Planetary Health Diet (PHD). Monte Carlo simulations were employed to explore 20,000 daily menu permutations. Results showed that the mean GHGEs of spring/summer and autumn/winter daily menus were 2.64 and 2.82 kg of CO₂eq, respectively, with 99% of menus exceeding the 2.03 kg of CO₂eq benchmark. Only 22% of menus were adherent to the PHD, with MELDSs ranging from 12 to 29. A strong inverse association between the CF and adherence to the PHD was observed. These findings suggest significant potential for reducing the CFs of meals served in nursing homes while promoting adherence to a planetary diet, presenting an opportunity to set new standards in caregiving and environmental sustainability. Full article

In 2019, the EAT-Lancet Commission proposed a Planetary Health Diet (PHD) to address challenges toward sustainable and healthy diets. However, its suitability within the Dutch context and a comparison with the Dutch Dietary Guidelines (DDG) needs investigation. Our study aimed to compare the PHD with DDG in terms of food groups, servings, nutritional content, and adequacy in adults. We modeled two theoretical diets, the PHD (PHD-NL) and another based on the DDG (DDG-NL), using the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey (FCS-2016) and Dutch Food Composition Database to calculate the nutritional content and compared it with the Dutch Dietary Reference Values (DRVs). The PHD included higher quantities of vegetables, fish, legumes, and nuts, while the DDG suggested more significant amounts of cereals, tubers, starchy vegetables, dairy, and red meat. We observed differences in macronutrient distribution; while both diets lacked sufficient vitamin D, calcium content was lower in the PHD-NL. The PHD-NL had higher levels of fiber, vegetable protein, unsaturated fats, and non-heme iron, while vitamins B2, B6, B12, and calcium were lower than the DDG-NL diet. The PHD-NL has nutritional adequacy in the Dutch context, except for vitamin D and calcium, although it is essential to be cautious with iron because of the bioavailability of non-heme iron in plant-based diets. These findings have implications for the adoption of a sustainable diet according to nutritional requirements, population health status, and sociocultural context, as well as compliance with specific dietary behaviors of populations. Full article

Global dietary habits are one of the main drivers of climate change. At the same time, they contribute to 11 million premature deaths every year. This raises the question of how the urgently needed transformation of food systems can be realized. Regardless of their degree paths, all university students, in their role as potential future experts and leaders in their fields, can serve as important change agents in society. In this paper, we (a) introduce a university curriculum in a teaching kitchen setting that is based on the planetary health diet (PHD) of the EAT-Lancet Commission, (b) investigate its feasibility, and (c) analyze its effects on the planetary health diet literacy of a pilot cohort of university students enrolled in various degree programs. We developed seven flipped classroom teaching kitchen sessions based on social cognitive theory (SCT), each consisting of a one-hour seminar with student presentations on various nutrition- and sustainability-related key topics, followed by corresponding two-hour hands-on cooking classes. To assess feasibility, specific questions from the official teaching evaluation of the University of Göttingen were analyzed. Changes in self-assessed planetary health diet literacy were measured using a pre- and post-survey. During the pilot phase, 26 students successfully completed the course. A total of 25 participants responded to the teaching evaluation and expressed high satisfaction with the course, the learning outcomes, and the level of demand. A total of 26 participants completed the pre- and post-survey. At the post-intervention, the students rated their planetary health diet literacy as 21 to 98% higher than before their course participation. The findings of this pilot study indicate that the curriculum was well-received and feasible with the target group, and they demonstrate that the course participation increased the university students’ self-assessed ability to disseminate strategies for more sustainable and healthy diets. Through replication at other universities worldwide, the teaching kitchen-based planetary health diet curriculum might foster a social shift towards healthier and more climate-friendly food systems. Full article

Background: Nutritional interventions such as the planetary health diet, which the EAT-Lancet commission proposed, may be an effective strategy for reducing type 2 diabetes risks and its associated complications. The planetary health diet demonstrates the significant role of diet in associating human health with environmental sustainability and the significance of transforming food systems in order to ensure that the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement are achieved. Therefore, the aim of this review is to examine the association of the planetary health diet (PHD) with the risk of type 2 diabetes and its related complications. Method: The systematic review was conducted in line with established guidelines. The searches were carried out in health sciences research databases through EBSCOHost. The population, intervention, comparator and outcomes framework was used in order to define the research question and the search terms. The searches were carried out from the inception of the databases to 15 November 2022. Search terms including synonyms and medical subject headings were combined using Boolean operators (OR/AND). Results: Seven studies were included in the review and four themes were identified, including incidence of diabetes; cardiovascular risk factors and other disease risks; indicators of obesity and indicators of environmental sustainability. Two studies examined the association between the PHD and the incidence of type 2 diabetes and found that high adherence to the reference diet (EAT-Lancet reference diet) was correlated with a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes. High adherence to the PHD was also associated with some cardiovascular risk factors and environmental sustainability. Conclusion: This systematic review has shown that high adherence to the PHD is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and may be associated with a lower risk of subarachnoid stroke. In addition, an inverse relationship was found between adherence to the PHD and markers of obesity and environmental sustainability. Adherence to the reference diet was also associated with lower values of some markers of cardiovascular risk. More studies are needed to fully examine the relationship between the planetary health diet, type 2 diabetes and its related conditions. Full article

Global diets and food system not only influence human health conditions but also have a great effect on environmental sustainability. The Planetary Health Diet (PHD) proposed by the Lancet Commission is considered as a sustainable diet that meets human’s nutritional demands yet poses less pressure on the environment. In this study, we examine how the economic condition, i.e., Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP per capita), affects the deviations of current diets from the PHD at the country level by using a threshold regression model. The results show three dimensions regarding food consumption patterns in all 11 kinds of foods across the globe, as evidenced from the data in 147 countries as of 2018. First, the findings indicate that there exist deviations from the PHD for all kinds of foods, which could guide policymakers to make dietary improvements. Second, we find that GDP per capita impacts food consumption patterns with all kinds of foods. The results demonstrate that the changing rates of food consumption amounts decrease as the GDP per capita increases. Finally, we calculate the GDP per capita thresholds for all kinds of foods, and we find the number of thresholds ranging from zero to two. Specifically, 20,000 PPP (current international $), the GDP per capita boundary distinguishing developing and developed countries, is the first GDP per capita threshold influencing the food consumption amount. What is more, the second GDP threshold is 40,000 PPP (current international $), which is the average GDP per capita of developed countries. Thus, we identify the countries that require more financial assistance from a GDP per capita perspective. Full article