Indicators and Recommendations for Assessing Sustainable Healthy Diets

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Environmental Science
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• The intersection of human nutrition and sustainability is a critical and evolving research area.
• Existing research on sustainable healthy diets is essential for informing governmental policies.
• Current models for assessing sustainable diets often focus narrowly on one or two environmental domains.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically review and analyze indicators and approaches for sustainable healthy diets.
• To identify robust assessment gauges and highlight limitations in commonly used models.
• To provide a comprehensive assessment from health, environmental, and socio-economic perspectives.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of studies on sustainable healthy diets.
• Analysis of indicators covering health, environmental, and socio-economic dimensions.
• Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of existing dietary sustainability models.

Main Results:

• Many reviewed studies focus on limited environmental impacts (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, water use).
• Existing models often neglect potential impact shifts to other sectors or resources.
• A comprehensive set of indicators across health, environment, and socio-economics is needed.

Conclusions:

• Further analysis is required for food group classification, local food consumption, and seasonality.
• Consideration of preservation methods, agrobiodiversity, organic food, and production systems is crucial.
• The consequences for low-income countries must be integrated into sustainable diet assessments.