Identification of sustainable dietary patterns by a multicriteria approach in the NutriNet-Santé cohort

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIn the context of the increasingly damaging impact of agro-food systems on human health and the environment, this study aimed to evaluate the sustainability of current dietary patterns using multicriteria analysis to characterize consumers with different dietary patterns. In a sample of 29,413 participants of the NutriNet-Sant e Study, total and organic food intakes of 264 items gathered in 17 food groups were evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire. Eight sustainability indicators were assessed individually. To identify combinations of food groups explaining the maximum variation in the sustainability indicators, we applied reduced rank regression with food groups as predictors and sustainability indicators as response variables. Then, the first two RRR-derived factors were used to classify participants using an ascending hierarchical classification. Six clusters were identified, among then one cluster (N ¼ 23.07%) presented a good compromise between all the sustainable dimensions. Indeed, their diets emitted on average 36% less greenhouses gas, included 30% more organic food and exhibited a close level of affordability compared to the average. The dietary composition in this group, were characterized by À58% of red meat, À37% of white meat, À25% of cheese but þ15% of fruits, þ15% of vegetable and a similar contribution of fish and starches, compared to the sample average. Finally, this study showed that in the current food system context, the observed diets rarely meet all sustainability criteria. Oppositions between healthy, eco-friendly and affordability often remain. However, we observed some diets with high compatibility with all sustainable indicators selected for the study. Thus sustainable diets are emerging and should be promoted. However, it would be relevant to conduct additional research in other population to estimate acceptability.

Healthier and more sustainable diets: What changes are needed in high‐income countries?

“…Two studies selected for this review used a novel ‘clustering’ approach to identify healthier and more sustainable dietary patterns from among self‐reported diets of European consumers (Seconda et al, 2018; Vieux et al, 2020; see Appendix S1 for details). This approach groups participants according to nutritional, environmental and/or cost criteria to identify ‘clusters’ of self‐reported dietary patterns that represent the best compromise across various sustainability domains.…”

“…In the first of these two studies, data on the consumption of 264 food and drink items from participants in the NutriNet ‐ Santé cohort ( n = 29 413) were used to group individuals into six diet clusters (Seconda et al, 2018). Of the six clusters, cluster five represented the best overall compromise between the environmental, nutritional and economic dimensions included in the analysis.…”

“…The studies we reviewed provided some indication of the magnitude of environmental benefit that may be achieved through dietary changes. In general, reductions in GHGE and land use of approximately 20–50% were suggested as feasible across studies measuring adherence to national dietary guidelines (Chen et al, 2019; Drew et al, 2020; Röös et al, 2015; Scheelbeek et al, 2020), in those which identified ‘more sustainable’ clusters of self‐reported diets (Seconda et al, 2018; Vieux et al, 2020), and in several optimisation studies (Barré et al, 2018; Green et al, 2015; Horgan et al, 2016; Reynolds et al, 2019). Estimated reductions in water footprint tended to be more limited (e.g.…”

Can Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Patterns That Fit within Current Dutch Food Habits Be Identified?

“…This is similar to a combination of our first two patterns with blue water use a separator. Another study that used a similar data-driven method and eight response variables, indicating health, environment, and affordability derived a dietary pattern, which included relatively low amounts of animal origin products, especially red meat, sweets, and fatty products, and substantial consumption of soy-based and whole products [ 25 ]. This pattern matches our “low meat dietary pattern” regarding low meat consumption.…”

The key roles of economic and social organization and producer and consumer behaviour towards a health-agriculture-food-environment nexus: recent advances and future prospects

“…Colombet et al 2019), coordinated by INRAE. The BioNutrinet study, a research project included within the NutriNet-Santé cohort that started in 2014, is exploring the health and environmental impacts of organic food consumption (Seconda et al 2018).…”