7.11: Incorporating sustainability in diet quality definitions and indices (8c.11)
- Page ID
- 116849
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Current food systems are now known to contribute a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute to land conversion, deforestation, and biodiversity loss; agriculture also accounts for the majority of global freshwater withdrawals (FAO & WHO, 2019). Recognition of this has led to efforts to define diets that are both healthy and environmentally sustainable, and to calls for integration of sustainability considerations in national food-based dietary guidelines, as noted above (Gonzalez Fischer & Garnett, 2016; Springmann et al., 2020).
| Component | Macronutrient intake (possible range), g/d | Caloric intake, kcal/d |
|---|---|---|
| Whole grainsa | ||
| Rice, wheat, corn and other | 232 (total grains 0–60% of energy) |
811 |
| Tubers or starchy vegetables | ||
| Potatoes and cassava | 50 (0–100) | 39 |
| Vegetables | ||
| All vegetables | 300 (200–600) | |
| Dark green vegetables | 100 | 23 |
| Red and orange vegetables | 100 | 30 |
| Other vegetables | 100 | 25 |
| Fruits | ||
| All fruit | 200 (100–300) | 126 |
| Dairy foods | ||
| Whole milk or derivative equivalents (e.g. cheese) |
250 (0–500) | 153 |
| Protein sources | ||
| Beef and lamb | 7 (0–14) | 15 |
| Pork | 7(0–14) | 15 |
| Chicken and other poultry | 29 (0–58) | 62 |
| Eggs | 13 (0–25) | 19 |
| Fishb | 28 (0–100) | 40 |
| Dry beans, lentils, and peasa | 50 (0–100) | 172 |
| Soy foods | 25 (0–50) | 112 |
| Peanuts | 25 (0–75) | 142 |
| Tree nuts | 25 | 149 |
| Added fats | ||
| Palm oil | 6.8 (0–6.8) | 60 |
| Unsaturated oilsc | 40 (20–80) | 354 |
| Lard or tallow | 5 (0–5) | 36 |
| Added sugars | ||
| All sweeteners | 31 (0–31) | 120 |
In 2019, the EAT-Lancet Commission(Willet et al., 2019) addressed sustainability concerns and provided a global “healthy reference diet”, with quantitative targets (and ranges) for food group intake, based on a 2500 calorie diet (Table 8c.10).The reference diet was intended to be flexible and adaptable to various cultural contexts. The EAT-Lancet reference diet is high in plant-source foods and with limited amounts of animal-source foods, with the low end of the “healthy” range for these foods set at zero. Currently, there is no established global guidance on the appropriate balance of plant-source and animal-source foods.
Some have raised concerns that the EAT-Lancet reference diet unnecessarily restricts nutrient-dense animal-source foods (Raiten et al., 2020). Vaidyanathan(2021) summarizes some of the controversies and concerns. For nutrition-insecure women in low- and middle-income countries, Hanley-Cook et al.(2021) demonstrated that micronutrient adequacy improved when the EAT-Lancet intake ranges were modified by imposing non-zero minimum quantities for nutrient-dense animal-source food groups.
Meantime, several groups have proposed indices for healthy, sustainable diets either based on national guidance (Harray et al., 2015) or based on the EAT-Lancet reference diet (Knuppel et al., 2019; Trijsburg et al., 2019). Stubbendorff et al., 2021).Given this is a new area of inquiry, it is likely that additional research on sustainable healthy diets will yield additional indices and measurement tools in coming years.