Current dietary intake of the Japanese population in reference to the planetary health diet-preliminary assessment

The MED_EAT-IT approach: A modelling study to develop feasible, sustainable and nutritionally targeted dietary patterns based on the Planetary health diet

In 2019, the EAT-Lancet Commission introduced the Planetary Health Diet (PHD), a guide for creating 2500 kcal/day country-specific sustainable diets that promote health while reducing the environmental impact associated with food systems. The PHD was previously adapted to the Italian food context, resulting in the EAT-IT dietary pattern. However, this adaptation revealed several challenges in terms of nutritional adequacy, feasibility, and environmental impact. This study reports on strategies to improve the previous pattern and align it more closely with the Mediterranean Diet, resulting in the MED_EAT-IT pattern. The study also explores feasible strategies for adapting this pattern to different energy targets, enhancing its scalability and promoting personalized approaches. For the optimization of this pattern, a specific calculation tool was developed to introduce variation to the pattern, considering realistic and feasible serving sizes and frequency of consumption. This tool integrates a defined food ontology, food composition data, and two environmental impact metrics (Carbon and Water Footprint). To optimize nutritional adequacy, several adaptations of the amount within the different food groups were made, for instance by increasing cereals and animal source by 25.5% kcal/day and 36.2% kcal/day respectively compared to EAT-IT. The resulting 2500 kcal/die pattern meets all nutritional requirements except for vitamin D and does not hamper the possibility to limit environmental impact (Carbon Footprint increased only by 12.2% but Water Footprint decreased by 6.3%). Lower energy targets were achieved by modulating amounts of the different food groups to ensure nutritional adequacy. The strategies and tools proposed here could aid in optimizing dietary plans, evaluating their potential for environmental impact reduction, and identifying issues that could hinder their adoption. Furthermore, the analyses carried out pave the way for the potential future development of new or improved foods that may contribute to the optimization of nutritional and environmental impact of diets.

University Students as Change Agents for Health and Sustainability: A Pilot Study on the Effects of a Teaching Kitchen-Based Planetary Health Diet Curriculum

Global dietary habits are one of the main drivers of climate change. At the same time, they contribute to 11 million premature deaths every year. This raises the question of how the urgently needed transformation of food systems can be realized. Regardless of their degree paths, all university students, in their role as potential future experts and leaders in their fields, can serve as important change agents in society. In this paper, we (a) introduce a university curriculum in a teaching kitchen setting that is based on the planetary health diet (PHD) of the EAT-Lancet Commission, (b) investigate its feasibility, and (c) analyze its effects on the planetary health diet literacy of a pilot cohort of university students enrolled in various degree programs. We developed seven flipped classroom teaching kitchen sessions based on social cognitive theory (SCT), each consisting of a one-hour seminar with student presentations on various nutrition- and sustainability-related key topics, followed by corresponding two-hour hands-on cooking classes. To assess feasibility, specific questions from the official teaching evaluation of the University of Göttingen were analyzed. Changes in self-assessed planetary health diet literacy were measured using a pre- and post-survey. During the pilot phase, 26 students successfully completed the course. A total of 25 participants responded to the teaching evaluation and expressed high satisfaction with the course, the learning outcomes, and the level of demand. A total of 26 participants completed the pre- and post-survey. At the post-intervention, the students rated their planetary health diet literacy as 21 to 98% higher than before their course participation. The findings of this pilot study indicate that the curriculum was well-received and feasible with the target group, and they demonstrate that the course participation increased the university students' self-assessed ability to disseminate strategies for more sustainable and healthy diets. Through replication at other universities worldwide, the teaching kitchen-based planetary health diet curriculum might foster a social shift towards healthier and more climate-friendly food systems.

Global trends and research hotspots of EAT-Lancet diet: a bibliometric analysis

The EAT-Lancet diet is a groundbreaking and comprehensive dietary framework that has garnered significant attention in the fields of nutrition, sustainability, and public health. We aimed to conduct a bibliometric study to investigate current status and hotspots in the field of EAT-Lancet diet based on the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database, and the documents of EAT-Lancet diet published from Jan 1, 2019 to Sep 1.2023 were extracted. The bibliometric and visualized analysis were performed by VOSviewer 1.6.16 and WOSCC Online Analysis Platform. In total, 155 documents from 62 journals were included, and 735 authors from 389 institutions and 53 countries/regions contributed to the field of EAT-Lancet diet. The most productive countries/regions, institutions, authors, and journals were the USA, Wageningen University & Research, Johan Rockström, and Nutrients, respectively. The first high-cited document was published in Lancet and authored by Willett et al. in 2019. This is also the first study about EAT-Lancet diet. The article firstly proposed the "EAT-Lancet Diet" emphasizing balanced, plant-based eating to improve human health while addressing environmental concerns. In conclusion, in the field of EAT-Lancet diet, the main research hotspots and frontiers are the adaptation of EAT-Lancet diet, the composition of EAT-Lancet diet, and the benefits of EAT-Lancet diet for human health. The number of research on the EAT-Lancet diet is currently limited. There is a pressing need for further studies to broaden our understanding of the EAT-Lancet diet and its potential to enhance human health.