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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2023) | Viewed by 9596

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Prof. Dr. Ruixue Huang

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Guest Editor

Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China
Interests: environment; sustainable; diet; nutrition; food; human health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of this Special Issue, “Effect of Environmentally Sustainable Diets on Human Health”, is to provide an overview of the topic, with the aim of identifying health and environmental co-benefits derived from a sustainable diet as well as promotion strategies that favor its implementation.

Sustainable diets have been defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as diets with low environmental impact that contribute to food and nutritional security and a healthy life for present and future generations. This type of diet improves protection and respect for biodiversity and ecosystems; is culturally acceptable, economically fair, accessible, affordable, nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy; and allows the optimization of natural and human resources.

Key questions in the field include: What environmental impact is derived from each type of food? How can we identify health and environmental co-benefits derived from a sustainable diet? How can we identify promotion strategies that favor the implementation of sustainable dietary patterns?

This Special Issue will touch upon the many aspects that relate to health, with a focus on three different directions:

Combined effects of environmental pollution and diet behaviors on health.

Emerging environmental pollutants such as microplastics and classical physical factors such as radiation and particulate matter, which may have negative health effects.

The roles of environmentally sustainable diets in the prevention of environmental pollution-induced disorder.

We are also interested in the mechanisms of the above aspects; note that research on other relevant topics is also welcome.

The topics covered should range from epidemiology to molecular mechanism studies, animal studies, evidence-based studies (e.g., meta-analyses and reviews including microbiota, genetics, allergy, asthma, and the mechanisms of immunomodulation) as well as promotion strategies.

Prof. Dr. Ruixue Huang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

healthy diet
sustainable diet

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 643 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dietary Diversity, Household Food Insecurity and Stunting among Children Aged 12 to 59 Months in N’Djamena—Chad

by Goudja Gassara, Qian Lin, Jing Deng, Yaxi Zhang, Jieqiong Wei and Jihua Chen

Nutrients 2023, 15(3), 573; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15030573 - 21 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3251

Abstract

Background: Household food insecurity is increasingly recognized as a global health problem, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to contextualize the associations between household food insecurity, dietary diversity and stunting in N’Djamena. Methods: This study is a community-based cross-sectional study, and the SMART (Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions) methodology was used to calculate the sample size. A total of 881 households were selected for the survey. A 24-h recall evaluated the dietary diversity score (DDS), the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) made it possible to assess household food insecurity (HFI), and stunting among children aged 12 to 59 months was assessed by anthropometric measurements. Logistic regression was constructed to determine the association between household food insecurity, dietary diversity, and stunting. The study was conducted from January to March 2022. Results: The prevalence of severe food insecurity was 16.6%, and that of stunting was 25.3%. The mean DDS was 6.5 ± 1.6. Severe food insecurity (OR 2.505, CI: 1.670–3.756) was significantly associated with stunting. The association between DDS and stunting was not significant. Conclusions: This study’s prevalence of household food insecurity and stunting was very high. Household food insecurity and household size were significantly associated with stunting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effect of Environmentally Sustainable Diets on Human Health)

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12 pages, 814 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Association of Dietary α-Carotene and β-Carotene Intake with Low Cognitive Performance in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

by Qiya Zhong, Wen Sun, Yao Qin and Huadong Xu

Nutrients 2023, 15(1), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15010239 - 03 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3512

Abstract

This study aims to examine the relationships of dietary α-carotene and β-carotene intake with cognitive function. The data were selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2014. A total of 2009 participants were included in this analysis. Dietary α-carotene and β-carotene intake were averaged by two 24-h dietary recalls. The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease Word Learning subset (CERAD W-L), Animal Fluency Test (AFT), and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) were used to evaluate cognitive function. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline models were applied to explore the associations of dietary α-carotene and β-carotene intake with cognitive performance. After adjusting for all confounding factors, compared with individuals in the lowest quartile of β-carotene dietary intake, those in the highest quartile had lower risks of both CERAD W-L decline [odds ratio (OR) = 0.63, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.44–0.90] and AFT decline (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.47–0.94). In addition, the third quartile of β-carotene dietary intake had a significantly decreased risk of lower DSST (OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.48–0.83). Compared with the lowest quartile of α-carotene intake, the OR of AFT decline in the highest intake quartile was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.46, 0.94). For males, both dietary α-carotene and β-carotene intake were associated with a decreased risk of AFT decline (OR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.25–0.71; OR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.30–0.85, respectively). For females, dietary α-carotene intake was associated with a decreased risk of CERAD W-L decline (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.33–0.91) and dietary β-carotene intake was associated with decreased risks of both CERAD W-L and AFT decline (OR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.21–0.64; OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.37–0.91, respectively). Our results suggested that higher dietary α-carotene and β-carotene intake had inverse effects on cognitive function decline among older adults. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effect of Environmentally Sustainable Diets on Human Health)

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15 pages, 1171 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Self-Reported Purchasing Behaviour, Sociodemographic Predictors of Plant-Based Protein Purchasing and Knowledge about Protein in Scotland and England

by Magdalena M. E. Brandner, Claire L. Fyfe, Graham W. Horgan and Alexandra M. Johnstone

Nutrients 2022, 14(21), 4706; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14214706 - 07 Nov 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2297

Abstract

Plant-based diets are seen as a food-based strategy to address both the impact of dietary patterns on the environment, to reduce climate change impact, and also to reduce rates of diet-related disease. This study investigated self-reported consumer purchasing behaviour of plant-based alternative foods (PBAF) and wholefood plant protein foods (legumes) with a cross-sectional online survey. We identified the sociodemographic factors associated with purchasing behaviour and examined knowledge about protein and plant-based diets. We recruited and obtained consent from n = 1177 adults aged >18 from England and Scotland (mean age (± standard deviation (SD)) 44 (16.4) years), across different areas of social deprivation, based on postcode. Descriptive statistics were conducted, and sociodemographic factors were examined by computing covariate-adjusted models with binary logistic regression analysis. A total of 47.4% (n = 561) consumers purchased PBAF and 88.2% (n = 1038) wholefood plant-proteins. The most frequently purchased PBAF were plant-based burgers, sausages, and mince/meatballs. Individuals from low deprivation areas were significantly more likely than individuals from high deprivation areas to purchase wholefood plant-proteins (odds ratio (OR) 3.46, p = 0.001). People from low deprivation areas were also more likely to recognise lentils as good source of protein (OR 1.94, p = 0.003) and more likely to recognise plant-based diets as healthy (OR 1.79, p = 0.004) than those from high deprived areas. These results support current trends of increasing popularity of PBAF, which is positive for the environment, but also highlights these products as being ultra-processed, which may negatively impact on health. The study also re-enforces the link between deprivation, reduced purchasing of wholefood plant-proteins and knowledge of plant-based protein and diets. Further research is needed to examine healthfulness of PBAF and how sociodemographic factors, especially deprivation, affect both food choice and consumption of wholefood plant-proteins. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effect of Environmentally Sustainable Diets on Human Health)

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