Recommendations for Integrating Evidence-Based, Sustainable Diet Information into Nutrition Education

Abstract

The adoption of more sustainable diets (SD) has the capacity to meet the needs of individuals without compromising future generations’ abilities to do the same. Nutrition educators are ideal candidates for delivering SD education to consumers, yet evidence-based recommendations for the profession have not been crafted. The results of a thorough, narrative review of the literature performed in 2021 suggest there are five well-supported recommendations nutrition educators should consider incorporating in their work. They are (1) shift towards a plant-based diet, (2) mitigate food waste, (3) limit consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF), (4) engage in local food systems, and (5) choose sustainable seafood. Each recommendation is discussed below in detail, to provide nutrition educators with a nuanced scope of the issue, after which suggestions for the inclusion of these recommendations, using an example of the authors’ experiences from the US Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), are provided.

Growth and development impact of sustainable nutrition education: An experimental study

“…The knowledge and preference of healthy nutrients and sustainable healthy eating behaviors are the most effective steps in the prevention of overweight, obesity, and obesity. For this reason, it is recommended to teach this to children from childhood (Bastian et al., 2021). Increased weight in early childhood causes many physical and psychosocial health problems, especially overweight and obesity later in life (Agadayi et al., 2019).…”

Plant-Based Innovations for the Transition to Sustainability: A Bibliometric and in-Depth Content Analysis

“…What is more, transitioning to sustainable diets should be based on local, plant-based, unprocessed food, with limited food waste [153].…”

Facilitadores e limitações para redução do consumo de carne em habitantes de Niterói - RJ

“…A Tabela 1 apresenta resultados que evidenciam a consciência dos respondentes quanto a acreditarem que possuem capacidade para substituir a carne na própria dieta alimentar. Um desafio para os educadores nutricionais, considerando as preocupações com a qualidade e o alto teor de sódio da carne ultraprocessada à base de vegetais (Hu et al, 2019), deve considerar cada vez mais a promoção de dietas à base de vegetais com proteínas vegetais in natura ou orgânicas, como leguminosas e nozes (Bastian et al, 2021), que substituam de forma nutricionalmente adequada a carne.…”