Drivers of the Growing Water, Carbon and Ecological Footprints of the Chinese Diet from 1961 to 2017

Choosing the right policy: Factors influencing the preferences of consumption-side personal carbon reduction policies

With the development of the social economy and the improvement of personal income, the government must consider formulating personal carbon reduction policies to reduce carbon emissions from the consumption side. Therefore, it is valuable to understand the public's preferences for different policies and the factors influencing the willingness of policy support, which can help policy selection and promotion. Using data collected from 2801 college students and a multinomial logit model, this study explores the influence of personal and social factors on preferences for three different personal carbon reduction policies (personal carbon trading, carbon tax, and carbon generalized system of preferences). The results show that individuals with higher levels of affluence, social trust, and social norms prefer personal carbon trading; individuals with higher levels of affluence, self-motivation, and social norms prefer carbon tax; individuals with higher levels of low-carbon behavioral attitudes and social trust prefer carbon generalized system of preferences; and low-carbon responsibility, access to low-carbon information, and social equity are beneficial to all three policies. In addition, this study examined the heterogeneity of individuals with different levels of affluence and low-carbon behavioral attitudes. This study compares the differences in influencing factors of policy preferences, clarifies the effects of various personal and social factors, which can help the government to design consumption-side personal carbon reduction policies in the future, and provide a reference for the promotion of corresponding policies.

Nutrition and its footprints: Using environmental indicators to assess the nexus between sustainability and food

Current food systems are associated with the unsustainable use of natural resources; therefore, rethinking current models is urgent and is part of a global agenda to reach sustainable development. Sustainable diets encompass health, society, economy, culture as well as the environment, in addition to considering all the stages that make up the food production chain. This study aimed to perform a review on the importance of using environmental footprints (EnF) as a way of assessing the environmental impacts of food systems. The most used EnF to assess impacts related to the food system was the carbon footprint, followed by the water footprint, and the land use footprint. These EnF usually measured the impacts mainly of the current diet and theoretical diets. Animal-source foods were the ones that most contribute to the environmental impact, with incentives to reduce consumption. However, changing dietary patterns should not be restricted to changing behavior only, but should also involve all stakeholders in the functioning of food systems. We conclude that EnF are excellent tools to evaluate and guide the adoption of more sustainable diets, and can be applied in different contexts of food systems, such as food consumption analysis, menu analysis, food waste, and inclusion of EnF information on food labels.

A comparative study on the dietary ecological footprint in contemporary China

Food consumption is increasingly impacting environmental sustainability. Building on the latest data of China Statistical Yearbook 2015-2020, this study quantified the dietary ecological footprint per capita (EFP), including animal-based and plant-based EFP, across seven provinces (representing seven regions) and between urban and rural areas of China. We further analyzed the possible correlated factors with the EFP and the strength of these correlations. The results showed that the EFP in southern areas was generally higher than that in northern areas, and the EFP in urban areas was higher than that in rural areas. The EFP was significantly correlated with per capita disposable income (PCDI), food consumption (FC) quantity, urban/rural status, southern/northern areas, and provinces. Moreover, we found geographical locations (i.e., southern/northern areas and provinces) contributed more to the total and animal-based EFP than economic conditions (i.e., urban/rural status and PCDI). Although pork price dramatically influenced the dietary patterns, it did not affect the total or animal-based EFP. These findings provide novel insights for understanding the mechanisms of the relationship between food consumption and environmental sustainability in China. The conclusions are helpful in predicting the future environmental impacts of diets in other countries with similar national conditions.

Food Consumption Characteristics and Influencing Factors in a Grassland Transect of Inner Mongolia Based on the Emergy Method

Food consumption is the vital connection between human beings and natural resources. Our research explores the characteristics and drivers of food consumption patterns within Mongolian grasslands with a vulnerable ecology and environment. Food consumption data were obtained via a household questionnaire survey, and the emergy method was applied to analyze the food consumption characteristics in different grassland areas. This led to the following results: (1) The total per capita food consumption in different banners showed greater consumption and higher percentage of animal-based food in regions farther north. (2) From south to north, the main meat consumption in different banners varied, the predominant meat type consumed in Taibus was pork, that in Zhenglan was mutton, and that in West Ujimqin was beef. The farther north, the more fruits and vegetables were consumed. (3) The characteristics of food consumption in different areas were influenced by a series of factors, including social, economic, and ecological ones. Local food supply and disposable income were the main factors that had important effects on food consumption structure, as these two factors provided accessibility to foods for consumption.

Is high adaptation to the Mediterranean diet effective in increasing ecological footprint awareness? A cross-sectional study from Turkey

BACKGROUND

The effect of diet type on sustainable environment is known. It is important to understand the adaptation of individuals with high ecological footprint awareness to the Mediterranean type diet, especially under the assumption that the Mediterranean diet will reduce the ecological footprint. In the study, it is aimed to examine the relationship between the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and Ecological Footprint awareness of adults.

RESULTS

The sample of the study consisted of 395 individuals with a mean age of 26.2 ± 8.7 years: 293 females (74.2%) and 102 males (25.8%). As the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Scale (MDAS) score of individuals increased, the Ecological Footprint Awareness Scale score also increased. Similarly, a positive correlation was found between the participants' MDAS score and the awareness of food (r = 0.157; P = 0.002), energy (r = 0.133; P = 0.008), waste (r = 0.149; P = 0.003) and water consumption (r = 0.101; P = 0.045), which are sub-factors of the Ecological Footprint Awareness Scale.

CONCLUSION

As far as is known, this cross-sectional study is one of the first studies on compliance with the Mediterranean diet and awareness of the ecological footprint. The findings of the study show that as individuals' compliance with the Mediterranean diet increases, their awareness of their ecological footprint will also increase. To reach a conclusion on this issue, future studies should evaluate the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and awareness of food-environmental impact on different samples. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Dynamic Threshold Effect of Directed Technical Change Suppress on Urban Carbon Footprint in China

Promoting technical change is an important driving force for promoting the sustainable development of urban economy and ecology; however, the technical change is not always neutral and technical change may has a certain direction. This paper uses the DEA-Malmquist index to measure the directed technical change of 280 cities in China from 2009 to 2019, and uses the DMSP/OLS night light data to characterize the urban economic development level. It uses the dynamic threshold regression model to analyze the impact of directed technical change on urban carbon footprint under different economic development levels. The results show that: (1) during the study period, the carbon footprint of Chinese cities has a positive spatial correlation, and the direction of technical change is towards capital-saving overall. (2) The impact of capital-saving technical change on urban carbon footprint presents a negative double-threshold characteristic in China, and the inhibition of capital-saving technical change on the urban carbon footprint becomes stronger with the increasing economic development level. (3) The inhibitory effect of capital-saving technical change on carbon footprint has regional heterogeneity, and the inhibitory effect of capital-saving technical change on carbon footprint is stronger in eastern China than other regions. (4) Industrial structure, energy structure and innovation efficiency are mediating variables of the inhibitory effect of capital-saving technical change on carbon footprint except for population density.

Carbon Footprint Reduction by Transitioning to a Diet Consistent with the Danish Climate-Friendly Dietary Guidelines: A Comparison of Different Carbon Footprint Databases

Dietary transitions are important for combating many of the environmental challenges humanity is facing today and reducing the global burden of disease. Different dietary patterns are associated with substantially different carbon footprints (CFs). This study aims to estimate the potential CF reduction on a transition from the current Danish diet to a plant-rich diet consistent with the Danish food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) and to compare results obtained from the use of two different CF databases. Dietary intake data for adults aged 18-64 years from the national dietary survey 2011-2013 were used to calculate the CF of the current diet, and this was compared with the estimated CF of the plant-rich diet modelled for the FBDG. Calculations were carried out using an attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) database (AU-DTU data) and compared to calculations using a top-down hybrid consequential LCA database (BCD data). The transition from the current diet to the plant-rich diet showed a substantial estimated CF reduction of 31% with AU-DTU data, and a greater reduction with BCD data (43%). Ruminant meat reduction was the largest contributor to this CF reduction, especially with the use of BCD data, and other animal-based foods also contribute considerably to the CF reduction, especially with AU-DTU data. These results indicate that the choice of LCA methodology and CF database is important in estimation of dietary CF and for the development of guidelines to promote dietary change.

Driving commitment to sustainable food policies within the framework of American and European dietary guidelines

Diet and nutrition are essential factors in promoting good health throughout life. Their role as determinants of chronic non-communicable diseases is widely recognized. Additionally, the demand for food involves relevant environmental burdens that have to be taken into account on the way to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. As an important part of nutrition policy, food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) have been revised. The key question is: Are environmental considerations being incorporated into them? To address this issue, we modeled and compared both the main environmental indicators in terms of carbon footprint (CF) and water footprint (WF), and nutritional quality (according to the Nutrient Rich Diet index, NRD9.3 and a health gain score) of dietary guidelines from Northern and Southern Europe and America. Particularly, the FBDGs compared were Dutch Dietary Guidelines (DDG), New Nordic Diet (NND), Spanish Strategy for Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Prevention (NAOS), Mediterranean Diet (MD), Italian Dietary Guidelines (IDG) and American Dietary Guidelines (DGA). The IDG and MD offered the best profiles from a climate change perspective (2.04 and 2.21 kgCO₂eq·day^-1). Overall, DGA had the highest CF (2.98 kgCO₂eq·day^-1). WF presented greater fluctuations, not only due to daily-recommended amounts, but also because of different climate conditions and production systems of the reference countries. Hence, WF ranged from 1760 L·person^-1·day^-1 in IDG to 3181 L·person^-1·day^-1 in NAOS. Finally, the nutritional value of MD, which had the highest NRD9.3 (477) and health gain score (178), has been demonstrated when the comparison was made with DDG, the one with the lowest health gain score (97) and DGA, the worst in terms of NRD9.3 (391). To go ahead of the FBDGs that bet on all dimensions of sustainability, multi-criteria analysis is needed. Nutrition and environmental performance are not the only aspects of the problem; economy and sociocultural variables should be considered.

The Influencing Factors of Nutrition and Diet Health Knowledge Dissemination Using the WeChat Official Account in Health Promotion

Background: The promotion of a healthy diet via health education is a component of the “Healthy China 2030” plan. However, few studies have reported whether health knowledge about nutrition and diet has gained public attention, and whether it is needed by the public.

Methods: The numbers of views, shares, and reads of articles published by the official WeChat account of a hospital in China were accessed. The influence index was obtained via the entropy analysis of these three indices. A questionnaire survey was developed based on the purpose of the study and the conclusion of the content analysis, which conducted to analyze users' requirements for health knowledge and their influencing factors. Moreover, risk factors were explored by logistic regression models.

Results: Of the 103 articles considered in this study, four articles in the Top 10 were related to nutrition and diet. The influence index of nutrition and diet knowledge was found to be the highest in the content analysis (p < 0.05). The higher degrees of humor (β = 0.224, p = 0.027), nutrition and diet articles (β = 0.776, p = 0.034), and cover articles (β = 0.312, p = 0.021) have significant influences on the influence index. In total, 581 questionnaires were obtained, and 78.1% of the respondents reported believing that the health knowledge of greatest concern was that related to nutrition and diet. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore the associations between the features of the articles and users reading nutrition and diet knowledge; it was found that gender (female, OR: 4.651, 95%Cl: 2.598, 8.325, and p < 0.001), age (young adult, OR: 0.358, 95%Cl: 0.266, 0.481, and p < 0.001), cancer precaution knowledge (OR: 4.333, 95%Cl: 2.262, 8.299, and p < 0.001), traditional Chinese medicine (OR: 2.121, 95%Cl: 1.064, 4.230, and p = 0.033), the knowledge acquisition approach [circle of friends (OR: 2.586, 95%Cl: 1.373, 4.868, and p = 0.003), social media (OR: 2.183, 95%Cl: 1.204, 3.960, and p = 0.010)), hospitals (OR: 3.194, 95%Cl: 1.793, 5.692, and p < 0.001), television media (OR: 4.348, 95%Cl: 2.341, 8.077, and p < 0.001)], and social media strategies [professionalism and authority (OR: 2.354, 95%Cl: 1.231, 4.505, and p = 0.006)] have statistically significant relationships with users reading nutrition and diet knowledge.

Conclusion: Nutrition and diet knowledge could contribute to WeChat user engagement of health information dissemination. Nutrition professionals should improve the scientific popularization ability and effectively use social media for health promotion.

Spatial–Temporal Heterogeneity and Driving Factors of Rural Residents’ Food Consumption Carbon Emissions in China—Based on an ESDA-GWR Model

The increase in income among Chinese residents has been accompanied by dramatic changes in dietary structure, promoting a growth in carbon emissions. Therefore, in the context of building a beautiful countryside, it is of great significance to study the carbon emissions of rural residents’ food consumption to realize the goal of low-carbon food consumption. In this paper, the calculation of food consumption carbon emissions of Chinese rural residents is based on the carbon conversion coefficient method, and the spatial heterogeneity of influencing factors is analyzed with the aid of the ESDA-GWR model. The results indicate that the per capita food consumption carbon emissions of rural residents have increased by 1.68% annually, reaching 336.73 kg CO2-eq in 2020, which is 1.32 times that of 2002. Carbon emissions generated from rural residents’ food consumption have significant spatial agglomeration characteristics, showing the spatial distribution characteristics of a north–south confrontation, with a central area collapse. The influencing factors of food consumption carbon emissions have significant spatial heterogeneity, among which, as the main force to restrain the growth of food consumption carbon emissions, the price factor has a regression coefficient between −0.1 and −0.3, and its influence has weakened from northwest to southeast in 2020. The education–social factor is the main driving force for the growth of food consumption carbon emissions, with a regression coefficient between 0.58 and 0.99, and its influence has increased from east to west. In the future, formulating food consumption optimization policies should be based on the actual situation of food consumption carbon emissions in various regions to promote the realization of low-carbon food consumption.

Current status of premature mortality from four non-communicable diseases and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal target 3.4: a population-based study in northeast China, 2004-2017

Background and aim

According to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.4, premature mortality from four non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes mellitus, collectively referred to as NCD4) should achieve a minimum decline of 33% in 2030 relative to 2015. This remains a challenge for China. This study aimed to evaluate the current status and progress towards this target in Liaoning Province, one of the three provinces in northeast China.

Methods

We calculated the premature mortality rates (PMRs) per year and average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) from NCD4 using mortality data between 2004 and 2017. The trend was analyzed in the whole population, as well as in subpopulations of gender (male/female) and inhabiting area (urban/rural). PMRs from NCD4 for 2030 were projected by fitting a linear regression based on the current trend, which was identified by a Joinpoint model.

Findings

In the whole population, only chronic respiratory diseases showed a significant decline (AAPC: − 6.5%, p < 0.05), while only cancer showed a significant increase (AAPC: + 1.3%, p < 0.05); taken together, NCD4 showed a significant increase (AAPC: + 0.6%, p < 0.05). In the subpopulations, while males showed a significant increase in NCD4 (AAPC: + 1.5%, p < 0.05), cardiovascular diseases (AAPC: + 1.7%, p < 0.05), cancer (AAPC: + 1.8%, p < 0.05), and diabetes mellitus (AAPC: + 4.2%, p < 0.05), females showed a significant decline in NCD4 (AAPC: − 1.2%, p < 0.05), cardiovascular diseases (AAPC: − 1.8%, p < 0.05), diabetes mellitus (AAPC: − 2.1%, p < 0.05), but showed a mild increase in cancer (AAPC: + 0.5%, p > 0.05). A comparative analysis of the projected PMRs for 2030 with the 2015 levels revealed that only chronic respiratory diseases are expected to achieve the SDG target 3.4, apart from in the urban male subpopulation.

Conclusion

Except for chronic respiratory diseases, NCD4 cannot be expected to achieve the SDG target 3.4 in the whole population of Liaoning Province. Under these circumstances, special attention should be paid to reducing the risks of cancer and providing preventative interventions for men.

Assessing the Nutrient Adequacy in China's Food Supply from 1965 to 2018

Nutritional intake has important impacts on human health. A sufficient supply of nutrients is required to ensure high-level nutrition in a population. Assessment of nutrient supply adequacy can help to develop evidence-based policies and thereby promote public health. This study estimates the supply adequacy of nutrients in China's food system from 1965 to 2018 at the national level, aiming to reveal whether the supply of nutrients meets the demand. The results show that the nutrient supply in China's food system has experienced a sharp increase in the past five decades, and the deficiency in nutrient supply has been greatly mitigated. Although most nutrients such as potassium are already sufficiently supplied in China's current food system, some nutrients, especially calcium and zinc, still need a further enlarged supply to improve the nutrition condition of the Chinese population. Besides encouraging a healthy diet, supply-side regulation, e.g., fortification and enrichment, is also needed to improve nutrient availability. This study helps people better understand the development and current situation of nutrient adequacy in China's food supply, thereby providing information and implications for policymakers.

Analysis of Food Production and Consumption Based on the Emergy Method in Kazakhstan

The imbalance in the supply and demand for resources is a thorny issue that many countries have to face. Food is a basic resource throughout the world. Understanding the exact situation of food production and consumption is an important foundation for sustainable development. This paper aims to explore the quantity and pattern changes in food production and consumption in Kazakhstan. This can reflect the level of residents' standard of living and the situation of natural resource use. This paper focuses on the quantitative relationship between animal-based food and plant-based food and the tendency towards changes in urban and rural residents' food production and consumption in Kazakhstan based on the emergy analysis method. The data of food production and consumption were mainly obtained from the official statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Bank, Statistical Commission of the Ministry of National Economy of Kazakhstan, and literature. The research results showed that, over time, Kazakhstan residents' food consumption patterns have become more varied, and the proportion of meat consumption to total food consumption has increased. Although the rural per capita food consumption is significantly different from that of urban residents, this gap decreased in 2019. In Kazakhstan, the consumption of several types of food still relies on imports. Food production and consumption are affected by economic, social, and ecological factors. The results of this research can provide scientific support for reasonable and sustainable production and consumption strategies in Kazakhstan.

A Study on the Relationship between Income Change and the Water Footprint of Food Consumption in Urban China

We use a threshold model to analyze the relationship between per capita income and the per capita water footprint of food consumption in the urban Guangdong Province of China, and further simulate the effect of changes in income distribution on the per capita water footprint of food consumption. The income growth of urban residents has a significant positive effect on the per capita water footprint of food consumption, where the effect varies by income stratum. The income elasticity of the per capita water footprint of food consumption for the total sample is 0.45, where the income elasticity of the low-income group (0.75) is greater than that of the high-income group (0.23), indicating that a change of income in the low-income group has a greater effect on water resources. The simulation results show that increasing the income of residents, especially that of the low-income group, significantly increases the water footprint due to food consumption for the whole society. At present, China is in a period of rapid economic growth and urbanization, comprising a period of profound change and sensitive response to the income level of urban and rural residents. Therefore, in order to reduce the effect of food consumption on the environment, sustainable food consumption management strategies should consider group differences. We should correctly guide all kinds of groups to carry out sustainable consumption, advocate healthy and reasonable diet models, reduce animal food consumption, avoid the excessive consumption of food, and strengthen the management of food waste.

A visualization review analysis of the last two decades for environmental Kuznets curve "EKC" based on co-citation analysis theory and pathfinder network scaling algorithms

Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is a statistical tool to examine the cointegration and causality nexus between economic growth and carbon emissions. The EKC is widely used in energy and environmental economics studies. Although a large number of researchers have analyzed the EKC by applying different statistical models, some review work has been summarized to draw a pictorial view of extending studies in this research field. However, still, the macroscopic overview needs to be considered. Therefore, this study aims to contribute to the literature for finding a new pathway for further research employing, and to facilitate this research, scientometric analysis is carried out by feature in CiteSpace. The dataset was screened and found 2384 records out of 59,225 Web of Science (WoS) references, and the records for the timespan 1999-2019 was used to visualize the knowledge map and outcome of the scientific enterprise. The visualization results reveal the most influencing studies, institutions, authors, countries, keywords, and category cloud, in the research field of EKC. This article reveals that the research on EKC in alignment with green and sustainable technology science requires more attention. Further, this article would help authors and publishers make their decisions for the research of EKC and planning for future perspectives to contribute to academic development and applied methodology.

Changes in Six-Month Prevalence of Circulatory System Diseases among People Aged 20 Years and Older between 2013 and 2018 in Hunan, China

Recent changes in population-based prevalence for circulatory system diseases (CSDs) remain unreported either nationally or locally for China. Data were from the two-round health service household interview survey of Hunan Province, China, in 2013 and 2018. A Rao–Scott chi-square test was performed to examine prevalence differences across socio-demographic variables. The overall age-standardized prevalence of CSDs increased substantially between 2013 and 2018 for inhabitants aged 20 years and older (14.25% vs. 21.25%; adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.24–2.04). Hypertensive disease was the most prevalent type of CSD, accounting for 87.24% and 83.83% of all CSDs in 2013 and in 2018, respectively. After controlling for other socio-demographic factors, the prevalence of CSDs was significantly higher in 2018 (adjusted OR = 1.40), urban residents (adjusted OR = 1.43), females (adjusted OR = 1.12) and older age groups (adjusted OR = 5.36 for 50–59 years, 9.51 for 60–69 years, 15.19 for 70–79 years, and 12.90 for 80 years and older) than in 2013, rural residents, males and the youngest age group (20–49 years). The recent increase in the overall age-standardized CSD prevalence and the large prevalence disparities across urban/rural residents, sex and age groups merit the attention of policymakers and researchers. Further prevention efforts are needed to curb the increasing tendency and to reduce the prevalence of disparities across socio-demographic groups.

Green Agricultural Development Based on Information Communication Technology and the Panel Space Measurement Model

This study was conducted to promote the construction of China’s ecological civilization; to reduce harm to the environment; to quantify the performance of agricultural green development (GD); and to truly achieve green, sustainable, and healthy agricultural development. From the perspectives of resources and the environment, first, information communication technology and the panel space measurement (PSM) model were adopted to analyze relevant indicator data from 2000 to 2019 in China’s 30 provinces. Second, China’s agriculture was measured to explore the overall characteristics, temporal changes, and regional differences of agricultural development. A panel data measurement model was constructed using the generalized least squares method, and the main factors affecting performance development were analyzed, which were verified by giving examples. Third, the governance countermeasures and improvement directors were proposed for agricultural GD in China. It is found that the driving force of performance of agricultural GD in China mainly depends on technological progress and that technological efficiency determines the speed of agricultural development. The regional differences in performance of agricultural GD are obvious in China. The growth in the performance of agricultural GD in the eastern region is much higher than that of the central, western, and northeast regions. In addition, the results show that the performance of agricultural GD is extremely positively correlated with the agricultural economic level, fiscal support for agriculture policy, and the industrialization process and that it is extremely negatively correlated with the level of opening-up, adjustment of agricultural structure, and the environmental regulatory capability of the government. As a result, this study can provide some ideas for the realization of agriculture GD in China.

Decomposition of Water Footprint of Food Consumption in Typical East Chinese Cities

Water scarcity has put pressure on city development in China. With a particular focus on urban and rural effects, logarithmic mean Divisia index decomposition (LMDI) was used to analyze the water footprint per capita (WFP) of food consumption in five East China cities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Xiamen) from 2008 to 2018. Results show that the WFP of food consumption exhibited an upward tendency among all cities during the research period. Food consumption structure contributed the most to the WFP growth, mainly due to urban and rural residents’ diet shift toward a livestock-rich style. Except in Beijing, the food consumption level mainly inhibited the WFP growth due to the decrease in food consumption level per capita in urban areas. Urbanization had less influence on WFP growth for two megacities (Beijing and Shanghai) due to the strictly controlled urban population inflow policy and more positive effects for other cities. The water footprint intensity effect among cities was mainly due to uneven water-saving efficiency. Meanwhile, Beijing and Tianjin have achieved advancement in water utilization efficiency.

Using the Machine Learning Method to Study the Environmental Footprints Embodied in Chinese Diet

The food system profoundly affects the sustainable development of the environment and resources. Numerous studies have shown that the food consumption patterns of Chinese residents will bring certain pressure to the environment. Food consumption patterns have individual differences. Therefore, reducing the pressure of food consumption patterns on the environment requires the precise positioning of people with high consumption tendencies. Based on the related concepts of the machine learning method, this paper designs an identification method of the population with a high environmental footprint by using a decision tree as the core and realizes the automatic identification of a large number of users. By using the microdata provided by CHNS(the China Health and Nutrition Survey), we study the relationship between residents’ dietary intake and environmental resource consumption. First, we find that the impact of residents’ food system on the environment shows a certain logistic normal distribution trend. Then, through the decision tree algorithm, we find that four demographic characteristics of gender, income level, education level, and region have the greatest impact on residents’ environmental footprint, where the consumption trends of different characteristics are also significantly different. At the same time, we also use the decision tree to identify the population characteristics with high consumption tendency. This method can effectively improve the identification coverage and accuracy rate and promotes the improvement of residents’ food consumption patterns.

Demographic Scenarios of Future Environmental Footprints of Healthy Diets in China

Dietary improvement not only benefits human health conditions, but also offers the potential to reduce the human food system’s environmental impact. With the world’s largest population and people’s bourgeoning lifestyle, China’s food system is set to impose increasing pressures on the environment. We evaluated the minimum environmental footprints, including carbon footprint (CF), water footprint (WF) and ecological footprint (EF), of China’s food systems into 2100. The minimum footprints of healthy eating are informative to policymakers when setting the environmental constraints for food systems. The results demonstrate that the minimum CF, WF and EF all increase in the near future and peak around 2030 to 2035, under different population scenarios. After the peak, population decline and aging result in decreasing trends of all environmental footprints until 2100. Considering age-gender specific nutritional needs, the food demands of teenagers in the 14–17 year group require the largest environmental footprints across the three indicators. Moreover, men’s nutritional needs also lead to larger environmental footprints than women’s across all age groups. By 2100, the minimum CF, WF and EF associated with China’s food systems range from 616 to 899 million tons, 654 to 953 km³ and 6513 to 9500 billion gm² respectively under different population scenarios. This study builds a bridge between demography and the environmental footprints of diet and demonstrates that the minimum environmental footprints of diet could vary by up to 46% in 2100 under different demographic scenarios. The results suggest to policymakers that setting the environmental constraints of food systems should be integrated with the planning of a future demographic path.

Are the Chinese Moving toward a Healthy Diet? Evidence from Macro Data from 1961 to 2017

The change in diet structure is one of the critical features of social transformation, and diet structure is directly related to human health. In China, with rapid economic development, changes in the diet structure of the population have begun and are proceeding at a fairly rapid rate. In order to reveal how the Chinese diet is approaching or deviating from the nutritional goal, a novel index, NDBI (National Dietary Balance Index), is developed in this study to investigate the Chinese diet from 1961 to 2017 at a national level. The results show that the Chinese diet has transitioned from the under-intake stage to the over-intake stage. Before the 1980s, Chinese people ate all foods inadequately except staple foods; after the 1980s, the issue of under-intake began to fade, and the intake of meats even became excessive. The intake of staple foods is always excessive during this period. Currently, the Chinese diet is still unhealthy because of the inadequate intake of dairy products and the excessive intake of staple foods and meats. By evaluating diet structure on a national level, this study can help people to better understand how the Chinese diet deviated from the nutritional goal and provides information for policymakers intervening in China's food consumption.

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among People Aged 18 Years and Over between 2013 and 2018 in Hunan, China

Background: Recent overweight and obesity prevalence data are lacking for China. Methods: Data were from provincially representative surveys conducted in 2013 and 2018 in Hunan Province, China. Overweight and obesity were defined according to the Chinese standard. Complex sampling weights were considered in statistical analyses. 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of rate was calculated. Results: The overall prevalence rate between 2013 and 2018 significantly increased from 20.81% (95% CI: 17.68–23.95) to 26.97% (95% CI: 23.48–30.45) for overweight and from 4.09% (95% CI: 3.21–4.96) to 7.13% (95% CI: 5.10–9.15) for obesity in Hunan Province of China, respectively. Urban residents and males had higher crude prevalence rates of overweight and obesity than rural residents and females in 2013 and in 2018. Notably, the peak age groups of overweight and obesity both became younger between 2013 and 2018. After controlling for Engel coefficient, level of education and frequency of physical exercise per week, the overweight prevalence significantly increased in urban males aged 65+ (adjusted OR: 1.52) and rural males aged 45–54 years (adjusted OR: 1.52) and 65+ (adjusted OR: 1.88) and the obesity prevalence rate rose significantly in many groups (urban males: 18–24 years, 25–34 years, 35–44 years and 55–64 years; urban females: 25–34 years, 35–44 years, 45–54 years; rural males: 18–24 years, 25–34 years; rural females: 35–44 years, 55–64 years), with adjusted OR varying from 1.56 to 5.52. Conclusion: The adult prevalence rates of overweight and obesity significantly increased between 2013 and 2018 in Hunan Province, China. The increasing prevalence rates and varying prevalence changes across groups warrantee further research and policy interventions.