Potential health impact of increasing adoption of sustainable dietary practices in Sweden

Abstract

Background An urgent transition to more sustainable diets is necessary for the improvement of human and planetary health. One way to achieve this is for sustainable practices to become mainstream. We estimated the potential health impact of wider adoption of dietary practices deemed by consumers, researchers and stakeholders in Sweden to be niche, sustainable and with the potential to be scaled up. Methods A life table method was used to estimate the impact - changes in years of life lost (YLL) - over periods of 20 and 30 years in the Swedish population had the practices been adopted in 2010–11, when the last national adult dietary survey was conducted. The practices modelled were reducing red and processed meat (by 25, 50 and 100%), and assuming, for each stage, replacement by an equal weight of poultry/fish and vegetables +/− legumes; reducing milk intake (by 25, 50 and 100%); and reducing sugar-sweetened beverage intake (by 25, 50 and 100%). Using population data together with data on cause-specific mortality and relative risks for diet-disease outcomes, impacts were estimated for each scenario separately and in combination, for the outcomes ischaemic heart disease (IHD), ischaemic stroke, diabetes type 2 and colorectal cancer. Results For a “moderate” combination of scenarios (changes at the 50% level), reductions of 513,200 YLL (lower-upper uncertainty estimate 59,400-797,900) could have been achieved over 20 years and 1,148,500 YLL (135,900-1,786,600) over 30 years. The majority (over 90%) of YLLs prevented were related to IHD, and the majority were in men. The singular practice that had the most impact was reducing the intake of red and processed meat and replacing it with a mixture of vegetables and legumes. Reducing milk intake resulted in an increase in YLL, but this was compensated for by other scenarios. Conclusion If these practices were more widely adopted, they would be expected to lead to improvements in public health in Sweden. Over the long term, this would translate to many premature deaths postponed or prevented from a number of chronic diseases, to the benefit of individuals, society, the climate and the economy.

Population health impacts and associated monetary gains from the taxation of salt and sugar in the United Kingdom

“…This is similar to other research where the prevalence of obesity was reported to reduce by 1.5 to 10 percent when added sugar intake reduced by 10 to 20 percent [28,29]. Our results are also consistent with previous modelling studies showing improved health outcomes from diets that better align with dietary recommendations [30][31][32], and tally with the findings of previous modelling studies that have shown both health and economic gains resulting from a reduced intake of added sugars specifically [33][34][35]. Health and economic gains have also been reported as a result of the taxation of salt or foods high in salt in other countries [36][37][38][39].…”

Avengers, assemble the literature! A multi‐study review of consumption, environmental values, and planetary health research

“…First, the top authors are Selena Ahmed and Rosemary Green with four articles each. Their recent works have contributed insights on food security (Ahmed et al, 2022), food waste (Ahmed et al, 2021), and sustainable dietary practices (Patterson et al, 2021) such as the EAT–Lancet dietary recommendations for health and sustainability (Ali et al, 2022), among others. Second, the top affiliations are Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health with 12 articles, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with eight articles, and John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with five articles.…”

“…Ahmed and Rosemary Green with four articles each. Their recent works have contributed insights on food security (Ahmed et al, 2022), food waste (Ahmed et al, 2021), and sustainable dietary practices (Patterson et al, 2021) such as the EAT-Lancet dietary recommendations for health and sustainability (Ali et al, 2022)…”

A Systematic Review of Linear Programming Techniques as Applied to Diet Optimisation and Opportunities for Improvement

“…3). Tere is an increasing concern for the environment due to growing consumption patterns, Patterson et al [83]; Ferrari et al [50]; Larrea-Gallegos and Vázquez-Rowe [49]; whereas Tompa et al [40] minimised the water footprint of the optimised diet. Springmann et al [84] highlighted that there is a tendency that the impact of consumers on the environment may worsen as the world population grows exponentially and dietary patterns continue to change.…”