Agroaldea
A new study calls for promoting good nutrition while addressing climate change and sustainability.
What we eat is important not only for our health, but also for the planet. However, only a handful of governments have developed innovative dietary guidelines that promote diets to overcome while two of the most urgent challenges of our time: ensure good nutrition for all and to address climate change.
This is one of the main conclusions of a new study published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Research Network on Climate and Food (FCRN, for its acronym in English) University of Oxford.
The report "Dishes, pyramids, planet" (“Plates, Pyramids, Planet”) evaluates dietary recommendations made by governments around the world, examining in particular how they establish links with environmental sustainability, and promote good eating habits.
At the time the study was conducted, only four countries -Brazil recommendations, Germany, Sweden and Qatar- established connections between the threats posed by modern systems of food production and nutritional guidelines that drive. Two more countries -Netherlands and UK- They have taken steps to incorporate environmental considerations into their dietary guidelines.
However, This small number of countries represents a real missed opportunity for many of them to promote diets and food systems that are not only healthy, but sustainable, as noted by the study.
Double win for health and the environment
Poor eating habits, with diets rich in meat and foods high in sugar and fat and low in whole grains, Fruits and vegetables- They are closely linked to noncommunicable diseases: one of the main causes of premature death, not only in high-income countries, but also in many parts of the developing world. These diets are usually only unwholesome, but unsustainable for the environment.
"A growing number of people now understand that diets rich in whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, with a reduced consumption of meat and smaller amounts of foods high in fat and high sugar content- They are good for our body. There is also ample evidence that these diets are much lower than the unhealthy eating habits and unsustainable environmental impacts, which they are increasingly common today ", explains Carlos Gonzales-Fischer, FCRN and the lead author of the study. "So eating well for our own personal health, we are also doing the right thing for the planet: essentially, It is a situation where everyone wins ".
"Among the new Sustainable Development Goals (ODS) and the Paris Agreement on climate, the international community is betting firmly to put sustainability at the base of the planning and decision-making ", adds Anna Lartey, Director of the Division of Nutrition and Food Systems FAO. "Specifically, El ODS 2 It establishes a clear link between the requirements of healthy nutrition and sustainable agriculture, and it is time that the dietary guidelines reflect that relationship ".
Recommendations worldwide
More than 80 government-little more than a third of all countries in the world- and they offer advice to its citizens in the form of dietary food based guidelines: short messages, science-based, practical and culturally appropriate to guide people on a healthy diet and lifestyle. That number is growing, even in low- and middle-income.
Despite these promising developments, most governments have still yet to develop their national dietary advice, and this lack is particularly evident in low-income countries: for example, only five African countries have such guidelines.
And most existing guidelines still do not consider the environmental impact of eating habits.
The four countries which include the issue of sustainability, They emphasize that an economy based largely on plants diet has benefits for health and the environment. In particular, Sweden offers more detailed advice on what plant foods are preferable, advising root vegetables such as salad vegetables before. Most guidelines that include sustainability mention the high environmental impact of meat. But the advice often lacks specificity and where maximum levels of intake are indicated, these are based only on health care, not concern for the environment.
Brazil's recommendations highlighted by emphasizing the social and economic aspects of sustainability, advising people to mistrust advertising, for example, and avoid processed foods ultra, which they are not only bad for health, but also undermine the traditional food cultures.
Guidelines policies
The study emphasizes that, to have a real effect on food consumption, Dietary guidelines need to have clear links to food policies that are actually implemented: the rules about food in schools and hospitals and regulations affecting the advertising industry.
"Dietary guidelines are an essential first step: They provide insight, at the national level, how we could and should eat. But often the relationship with practical policies on the ground is absent, or it is unclear ", warns Tara Garnett. coauthor of the study.
The general suggestion of the report is that countries that already have dietary guidelines should begin to consider a process of incorporating sustainability into the same. "Countries that do not yet have them, They are in a unique position to develop from the beginning integrated guidelines ", Garnett explains.