Diets with Higher Vegetable Intake and Lower Environmental Impact: Evidence from a Large Australian Population Health Survey

Abstract

Increasing the consumption of vegetables is a public health nutrition priority in Australia. This must be achieved in the context of lowering dietary environmental impacts. In this study, a subgroup of 1700 Australian adult daily diets having a higher diet-quality score and a lower environmental impact score was isolated from Australian Health Survey data. These diets were primarily distinguished by their lower content of energy-dense/nutrient-poor discretionary foods. Among these diets, those with higher levels of vegetable intake were characterized by greater variety of vegetables eaten, lower intake of bread and cereal foods, and higher intake of red meat. These diets also had a greater likelihood of achieving recommended intakes for a range of vitamins and minerals. These findings highlighted the importance of considering the total diet in developing strategies to promote healthy and sustainable food consumption, as well as the need to understand the interrelationships between foods that exist in a local cultural context. As vegetables are usually eaten with other foods, higher vegetable consumption in Australia could be supported by encouraging more regular consumption of the types of meals that include larger quantities of vegetables. Our results showed that this was possible while also substantially lowering total dietary environmental impacts.

New plant‐based and alternative protein foods—Realising the benefits and avoiding the risks

“…However, dietary patterns that include more vegetables tend to include less bread and cereals and more red meat. 10,11 New plant-based and alternative protein foods will usually be eaten with other foods and the way they might change the combinations and proportions of other foods in a meal and across a dietary pattern is, as yet, unclear. This is a critical issue that needs to be addressed if these novel foods are going to contribute to overall beneficial nutritional outcomes.…”

The importance of protein variety in a higher quality and lower environmental impact dietary pattern

“…In Australia, a subgroup of 1700 adult daily diets was isolated from the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) component of the Australian Health Survey (29). These daily diets were characterised as having higher compliance with Australian Dietary Guidelines (30) and lower environmental impacts.…”

“…As this study describes population dietary estimates rather than usual intakes, only data from the first larger 24-h recall were used. In previous studies, each of these diets was scored for level of compliance with the Australian Dietary Guidelines (30) and environmental impact, and cluster analysis was used to isolate a subsample of 1700 higher diet quality and lower environmental impact (HQLI) diets (29).…”