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Many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are experiencing a nutrition transition, wherein high prevalence of malnutrition co-occurs with growing rates of diet-related non-communicable diseases. Sustainably managed and accessible aquatic foods can serve as a rich and bioavailable source of nutrients, helping communities achieve healthy diets and meet key sustainable development goals (e.g., SDG 1 No Poverty, SDG 2 Zero Hunger, and SDG 14 Life Below Water). However, to properly harness aquatic food systems in nutrition interventions, we must first understand aquatic food’s role in nutrient intake and adequacy. Here, using a nationally representative survey from Kiribati, we quantify the contribution of aquatic foods to nutrient intake and adequacy, and examine the spatial variability in nutrient intake adequacies. We find aquatic foods are the main contributors of most nutrients we examined, providing > 75% of vitamin B12, retinol, and heme iron, > 50% of niacin and total vitamin A, and > 25% of protein, vitamin E, potassium, and total iron consumed. Consumption of aquatic foods contributes to meeting key nutrient adequacies (e.g., niacin) and provides complete adequacy for vitamin B12 and protein. However, despite high aquatic food consumption, we find high levels of nutrient inadequacies (11 of the 17 nutrients with dietary reference intakes). Overall, our study quantifies the nutritional importance of aquatic foods in an emblematic SIDS, emphasizing their vulnerability to declining aquatic resources. We also highlight the need for cross-scale context-specific targeted nutrition interventions, even when aquatic food consumption is high, to enable SIDS to meet key SDGs.
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Higher adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH Diet) is associated with lower greenhouse gases and land use from protein foods
Introduction The average American diet is high in red and processed meats which increases one's risk for chronic diseases and requires more land and water to produce and yields greater greenhouse gases (GHG) compared to other protein foods. Reduction of red and processed meat intake, such as seen with the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH diet), could benefit human and environmental health. Objective The objective of this study is to predict the environmental sustainability of the DASH diet by evaluating the GHG, land use, and water withdrawals from protein foods within the self-selected diets of people who were encouraged to follow the DASH diet. Methods Dietary data was collected from 380 Midwesterners aged 35-70 years old with hypertension using the Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour (ASA 24) Recall System. DASH diet adherence was measured using a nutrient-based DASH score. GHG, land use, and water withdrawals were obtained using Carnegie Mellon University's Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment ( eiolca.net ) using the Purchaser model (cradle-to-consumer). Multiple linear regressions were used to view associations between individual DASH nutrient scores and environmental impacts of total, animal, and plant protein foods. Results Diets that met DASH diet guidelines, as indicated by higher individual DASH nutrient scores, were associated with less GHG and land use from total and animal protein foods but more GHG and land use from plant-protein foods, with a few exceptions. The pattern was not clear for water withdrawals. Diets with the greatest adherence had around 25–50% lower GHG and land use from total protein foods than diets with the lowest adherence. Changes may be due to decreased consumption of total and animal protein foods, selection of animal protein foods with lower environmental impacts, and increased consumption of plant protein foods. Conclusion Adhering to the DASH diet can promote the consumption of less environmentally demanding protein foods resulting in lower GHG and land use from protein foods. However, claims regarding the sustainability of the entire dietary pattern cannot be determined based off the current study. Regardless, it is evident that environmental impacts should be considered alongside health impacts when selecting, promoting, or recommending a dietary pattern.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1828942
- PAR ID:
- 10440912
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
- Volume:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 2571-581X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1145272
