Abstract
Food systems are at the nexus of human and planetary health. While the evidence for what constitutes a healthy and sustainable diet is increasing, it is clear that there is no one-size-fits-all solution and that we need solutions tailored to different contexts, including nutritional needs and health considerations of specific subpopulations.
Embedded within two European-wide projects, this thesis explores individual- and diet-level factors related to sustainable nutrition for two subpopulations in Europe, namely overweight adults with subsyndromal depressive symptoms (MooDFOOD project) and community-dwelling older adults (PROMISS project). The overall aim of this thesis is to evaluate the environmental impact of health-oriented dietary guidance and provide insight into how to make such guidance more environmentally sustainable.
The two main objectives of this thesis are: 1. to identify individual-level factors that pose as opportunities and challenges to achieving more environmentally sustainable food-related behavior, and 2. to assess the environmental impact of dietary change due to health-oriented dietary guidance. In order to address these objectives, we applied diverse quantitative methods and used personal, cognitive, behavioral and dietary data collected within the MooDFOOD and PROMISS projects, and linked food consumption data with nutritional and life cycle assessment data to assess the environmental sustainability of diets and dietary change.
In short, this thesis demonstrates that dietary changes towards a healthier diet does not necessarily lead to a more environmentally sustainable diet. To have a reduced impact on the environment, studies from this thesis and from literature demonstrate that reducing consumption of meat and animal-based protein must be targeted in dietary guidance. In addition, trade-offs of fish consumption need to be carefully considered, and more efforts are needed to replace high impact foods with lower impact foods and improve possible energy imbalances. This thesis also shows that personal factors (e.g. socio-demographics) and psychographic factors (e.g. attitudes and preferences) influence dietary choice and food waste behavior, but only explain a small fraction of consumer behavior. The diversity in food production and consumption patterns, food cultures, and health and nutritional needs necessitates tailored solutions to improve the health and environmental sustainability of diets. Therefore, it is important to develop dietary guidance and interventions that consider environmental sustainability aspects discussed in this thesis in addition to health and nutritional needs of subpopulations to promote the human health and planetary health.
Embedded within two European-wide projects, this thesis explores individual- and diet-level factors related to sustainable nutrition for two subpopulations in Europe, namely overweight adults with subsyndromal depressive symptoms (MooDFOOD project) and community-dwelling older adults (PROMISS project). The overall aim of this thesis is to evaluate the environmental impact of health-oriented dietary guidance and provide insight into how to make such guidance more environmentally sustainable.
The two main objectives of this thesis are: 1. to identify individual-level factors that pose as opportunities and challenges to achieving more environmentally sustainable food-related behavior, and 2. to assess the environmental impact of dietary change due to health-oriented dietary guidance. In order to address these objectives, we applied diverse quantitative methods and used personal, cognitive, behavioral and dietary data collected within the MooDFOOD and PROMISS projects, and linked food consumption data with nutritional and life cycle assessment data to assess the environmental sustainability of diets and dietary change.
In short, this thesis demonstrates that dietary changes towards a healthier diet does not necessarily lead to a more environmentally sustainable diet. To have a reduced impact on the environment, studies from this thesis and from literature demonstrate that reducing consumption of meat and animal-based protein must be targeted in dietary guidance. In addition, trade-offs of fish consumption need to be carefully considered, and more efforts are needed to replace high impact foods with lower impact foods and improve possible energy imbalances. This thesis also shows that personal factors (e.g. socio-demographics) and psychographic factors (e.g. attitudes and preferences) influence dietary choice and food waste behavior, but only explain a small fraction of consumer behavior. The diversity in food production and consumption patterns, food cultures, and health and nutritional needs necessitates tailored solutions to improve the health and environmental sustainability of diets. Therefore, it is important to develop dietary guidance and interventions that consider environmental sustainability aspects discussed in this thesis in addition to health and nutritional needs of subpopulations to promote the human health and planetary health.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | PhD |
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| Award date | 11 Jan 2022 |
| Print ISBNs | 9789464235746 |
| Electronic ISBNs | 9789464235746 |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Jan 2022 |