Health and Sustainable Nutritional Choices from Childhood: Dietary Pattern and Social Models

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The role of diet in the pediatric age for optimal development, achievement, and maintenance of a healthy status is well recognized. Increasing attention is nowadays also paid to reducing the burden of human nutrition on the planet’s health for present and future generations. <b><i>Summary:</i></b> Beyond environmental sustainability, the transition to diets rich in animal and processed foods contributes to an overall unhealthy nutritional status leading to an increased prevalence of obesity- and diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Childhood overweight and obesity are a growing public health crisis worldwide. The aim of this narrative review was to summarize evidence of the nutritional status and dietary habits in children and the link with environmental sustainability. <b><i>Key Message:</i></b> Optimizing nutrition in infancy and establishing healthy lifestyles from the preschool years might help to reduce the risk of overweight, and all the disorders related, respecting the sustainability dimension.

Obesidade infantil e hábitos alimentares: as consequências na vida adulta

“…Therefore, modifying eating habits can contribute to a more balanced energy balance and, consequently, to a more effective management of weight control, functioning as a preventive measure, which becomes decisive in improving quality of life [25].…”

Application of Pregnant Mom's Diet Based on Raspberry PI Using Telegram Chatbot

“…Therefore a healthy and regular diet is very necessary to maintain the body's immunity, the benefits that are obtained are not only for their mothers but also with their fetuses that can help in the growth and development of the fetus in the mother's womb. Therefore paying attention to the consumed diet must have good quality and nutrition, because a good diet can improve the quality of children in the womb (Kadir, 2021;Mazzocchi et al, 2022).…”

Children’s Diets in a Changing World

“…Mazzocchi and colleagues [5] tackle the issues of how children’s diets can be made more sustainable in their paper “Health and Sustainable Nutritional Choices from Childhood: Dietary Pattern and Social Models.” Whilst stressing the fact that ensuring adequate nutrient density from predominantly plant-based diets is more challenging for children’s diets, they provide encouraging evidence from the first trials of “sustainable” diets in school settings. These trials show that children’s dietary needs can be adequately met alongside very meaningful reductions in the greenhouse gas emission and water usage of the foods used, and at a lower cost.…”