Hunger, Obesity, Public Policies, and Food-Based Dietary Guidelines: A Reflection Considering the Socio-Environmental World Context

From Origins to Trends: A Bibliometric Examination of Ethical Food Consumption

Ethical food consumption has gained significant attention in the past years, reflecting a societal shift towards ethical behavior. Our study examines the evolution of ethical food consumption research over the past three decades, aiming to map its transformation. We identified key trends, influential contributors, and major thematic clusters through a bibliometric analysis, employing VOSviewer (v.1.6.18) for bibliometric visualization, focusing on citation networks and keyword o-occurrences to reveal the field's structure and dynamics. We made extensive use of the Web of Science database, where we selected 1096 relevant articles and review papers. Our analysis shows a notable rise in publications starting in 2005, with a peak in 2022, indicating increased scholarly interest in the topic. The findings underscore the importance of integrating empathy and human values into ethical food consumption, highlighting the critical roles of animal welfare, sustainability, and social justice. Despite a strong pro-ethical attitude among consumers, a significant "attitude-behavior gap" persists, emphasizing the need for strategies that bridge this divide. Our results emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary efforts to align ethical practices with broader societal goals, offering valuable insights for future research and policy-making to promote sustainable and ethical food consumption worldwide.

Exploring Benefits and Barriers of Plant-Based Diets: Health, Environmental Impact, Food Accessibility and Acceptability

Unhealthy dietary patterns are directly linked to the current Global Syndemic consisting of non-communicable diseases, undernutrition and climate change. The dietary shift towards healthier and more sustainable plant-based diets is essential. However, plant-based diets have wide intra differences; varying from vegan diets that totally exclude meat and animal products to traditional ones such as the Mediterranean diet and the new Nordic diet. It is acknowledged that plant-based diets may contribute simultaneously to improving population health as well as to decreasing the environmental impact of food systems. Evidence from cohort and randomized-controlled trials suggests that plant-based dietary patterns have beneficial effects on bodyweight control, cardiovascular health and diabetes prevention and treatment. On the other hand, micronutrient requirements may not be met, if some plant-based diets are not well-planned. Additionally, studies showed that lower consumption of meat and animal products results in lower environmental impacts. Consequently, plant-based diets could be a key factor to increase diet sustainability. This narrative review addresses the advantages of adherence to plant-based diets on human and planetary health considering strains and barriers to achieve this dietary transition, including cultural acceptability and affordability factors. Finally, potential intervention and policy recommendations are proposed, focusing on the update of current national food-based dietary guidelines.

An audit of the dissemination strategies and plan included in international food-based dietary guidelines

OBJECTIVE

Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) are an important resource to improve population health; however, little is known about the types of strategies to disseminate them. This study sought to describe dissemination strategies and content of dissemination plans that were available for FBDG.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional audit of FBDG with a published English-language version sourced from the United Nations FAO repository. We searched for publicly available dissemination strategies and any corresponding plans available in English language. Two authors extracted data on strategies, which were grouped according to the Model for Dissemination Research Framework (including source, audience, channel and message). For guidelines with a dissemination plan, we described goals, audience, strategies and expertise and resources according to the Canadian Institute for Health Research guidance.

SETTING

FBDG from fifty-three countries mostly from high-income (n 28, 52·8 %), and upper-middle income (n 18, 34 %) areas were included.

PARTICIPANTS

n/a.

RESULTS

The source of guidelines was most frequently health departments (79·2 %). The message included quantities and types of foods, physical activity recommendations and 88·7 % included summarised versions of main messages. The most common channels were infographics and information booklets, and the main end-users were the public. For twelve countries (22·6 %), we were able to source an English-language dissemination plan, where none met all recommendations outlined by the Canadian Institute for Health Research.

CONCLUSIONS

The public was the most frequently identified end-user and thus most dissemination strategies and plans focused on this group. Few FBDG had formal dissemination plans and of those there was limited detailed provided.

Can Chocolate Be Classified as an Ultra-Processed Food? A Short Review on Processing and Health Aspects to Help Answer This Question

Chocolate is a confectionery product whose consumption has increased, particularly dark chocolate. Chocolate is produced with varying amounts of cocoa liquor (CL), cocoa butter (CB) and cocoa powder (CP). The main chocolate types are dark, milk and white. Processing steps for chocolate production are described, and nutritional compositions examined for benefits and risks to health. Chocolate processing comprises steps at farm level, initial industrial processing for production of CL, CB and CP (common for all chocolate types) and mixing with other ingredients (like milk and sugar differing according to chocolate type) for industrial chocolate processing. All chocolate types present similar processing levels, and none involve chemical processing. Nutritional profiles of chocolate products differ according to composition, e.g., dark chocolate contains more CL, and so a higher antioxidant capacity. Chocolate is an energy-dense food rich in bioactive compounds (polyphenols, alkaloids, amino acids). Studies have demonstrated benefits of moderate consumption in reducing cardiovascular risk and oxidative and inflammatory burden, improving cognitive functions, maintaining diversity in gut microbiota, among others. In our view, chocolate should not be classified as an ultra-processed food because of simple processing steps, limited ingredients, and being an important part of a healthy diet when consumed in moderation.

Influence of Lifestyle Changes on Cardiovascular Diseases in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Literature Review

In Saudi Arabia, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has undergone tremendous socio-economic development and urbanization over the past few decades, which has profoundly changed the lifestyle leading to several risk factors that contribute to the high prevalence of CVD. This systematic review identified significant lifestyle factors associated with CVD risk in order to inform effective interventions to decrease the CVD burden in Saudi Arabia. We researched all published articles and reports evaluating CVD risk factors in Saudi Arabia in the last four years from the following databases: Medline, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase. A total of 19 articles and 1 report were included. Physical inactivity was among 69.4% of the population, mostly among Saudi women, and was associated with 1.4-1.5 odds of CVD. Obesity prevalence was 49.6%-57% and was associated with more odds of CVD among women than men (3.3 odds vs. 2.38 odds). More than a third (34.4%) of the Saudi population studied ate unhealthy diets (rich in fat, poor in fibers, less vegetables and fruits, and ultra-processed), which was found to more than triple (almost quadruple) the CVD risks (OR=3.8). Smoking prevalence was 12.2%-26.2% and was more among men. Other factors, such as type 2 diabetes (OR=2.3) and stress (5.4%-16.9%), were also identified as factors. The prevalence of CVD lifestyle-related risk factors is still high in Saudi Arabia, especially physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, obesity, and smoking, which highlights the urgent need for lifestyle modifications and public health campaigns and collaboration among the Saudi government and its partners to effectively improve cardiovascular health in Saudi Arabia.

Food insecurity was negatively associated with adherence to the "fruits, vegetables, and foods rich in animal protein" dietary pattern among university students' households: the 2018 Mexican National Household Survey

BACKGROUND

University students are often affected by food insecurity (FI) and this situation has been associated with low consumption of fruit/vegetables and high intake of added sugars and sweet drinks. However, there needs to be more evidence on the association between FI and dietary patterns (DPs), assessing the overall diet and allowing analysis of commonly consumed food combinations. We aimed to analyze the association between FI and DPs in university students' households.

METHODS

We used data from 7659 university student households from the 2018 Mexican National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH, for its acronym in Spanish). We obtained FI levels (mild, moderate, and severe) using the validated Mexican Food Security Scale (EMSA, Spanish acronym). Two DPs were identified by principal component analysis based on the weekly frequency of consumption of 12 food groups. Multivariate logistic regression adjusted by university student and household's characteristics was applied.

RESULTS

Compared to food security, households with mild-FI (OR:0.34; 95%CI:0.30, 0.40), moderate-FI (OR:0.20; 95%CI:0.16, 0.24) or severe-FI (OR:0.14; 95%CI:0.11, 0.19) were less likely to adhere to the dietary pattern "Fruits, vegetables and foods rich in animal protein" (fruits, vegetables, meat, fish or seafood, dairy products, and starchy vegetables). In addition, people with severe-FI (OR:0.51; 95% CI:0.34, 0.76) were also less likely to adhere to the dietary pattern "Traditional-Westernized" (pulses, oils or fats, sugar, sweets, industrialized drinks, foods made from corn/maize, wheat, rice, oats or bran, coffee, tea and eggs).

CONCLUSIONS

In these households FI impairs the ability to consume a healthy dietary pattern (fruits/vegetables and foods rich in animal protein). In addition, the intake of foods typical of the Mexican food culture reflecting the local Western dietary pattern is compromised in households with severe-FI.

On how people deal with industrialized and non-industrialized food: A theoretical analysis

“Canned, frozen, processed, ultra-processed, functional” etc. Two hundred years after the beginning of the food industry, industrialized food has evolved with many labels. Every person in the world eats and has different experiences with food that are connected to culture and social relationships which permeate our daily lives in many kinds of situations. Food evokes feelings, beliefs, desires, and moral values. For many people, food not only satisfies hunger and sustains life, but it also brings a delicious pleasure that is with their history, culture, and ancestry. Today's food industry pushes products through its marketing, which promotes a plethora of claims that have now trended proportionally with neophobic dimensions. In reality, the general public lacks objective knowledge about the complex science of modern food technology because of its low transparency, and this has resulted in the appearance of misleading ideas that can prejudice the correct analysis of food values. Given this, education about food is an urgent need. Notably, food scientists, technologists, and engineers must look at eaters through the prism of consumers who are human beings in all their rich social/anthropological diversity. The objective of this article is to explore the elemental anthropologic aspects of foods and how they can affect consumer's trust in the food industry's role.

The Multifaceted Nature of Food and Nutrition Insecurity around the World and Foodservice Business

Food security is more than a basic requirement for survival; it is a human right that has implications for global safety, economic strength, security, and sustainability [...]