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Marty L, Dahmani J, Nicklaus S. Children's liking for vegetarian and non-vegetarian school meals at the scale of a French city. Appetite 2024; 200:107547. [PMID: 38851493 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Revised: 05/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024]
Abstract
In Western countries, a behavioural shift towards more plant-based diets is helpful in protecting population and planet health. School canteens are an important public policy target to achieve this transition. Increasing the frequency of vegetarian meals in school canteens has been proposed as a solution to decrease greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining a good nutritional quality. However, vegetarian meals acceptance by children is key to limit unintended consequences such as increased food waste or increased nutritional inequalities. We aimed to examine children's liking for vegetarian and non-vegetarian main dishes at school canteens; and whether it varied across socioeconomic level. Connected scoring devices displaying a five-point smiley scale were installed in all the 38 primary school canteens of a French city, located in socially diverse neighbourhoods. Every day after their school lunch, children were asked to rate the main dish they had just eaten. During one school year, from September 2021 to June 2022, we collected 208,985 votes for 125 main dishes, including 32 vegetarian (i.e., no meat or fish) and 93 non-vegetarian dishes, for an average of 1672 (SD 440) votes per day across the 38 school canteens. We showed no difference in children's liking for vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Additionally, the socioeconomic level of the schools was found to interact negatively with children's liking for vegetarian main dishes whereby vegetarian main dishes tended to be more liked in schools of lower socioeconomic level. In this French city, children's acceptance would not be a barrier to increase the frequency of vegetarian school meals and would not increase social dietary inequalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucile Marty
- Centre des Sciences Du Goût et de L'Alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne, 17 Rue Sully, BP 86510, 21065, Dijon Cedex, France.
| | - Justine Dahmani
- Centre des Sciences Du Goût et de L'Alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne, 17 Rue Sully, BP 86510, 21065, Dijon Cedex, France
| | - Sophie Nicklaus
- Centre des Sciences Du Goût et de L'Alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne, 17 Rue Sully, BP 86510, 21065, Dijon Cedex, France
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Stiletto A, Vecchio R, Cembalo L, Trestini S. The impact of nutri-score on consumers' preferences for geographical indications. Evidence from a non-hypothetical experiment. Appetite 2024; 199:107400. [PMID: 38735306 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 05/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
The EU Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) promotes the compulsory adoption of a nutritional front of pack label to improve the diets of the citizens, supporting healthier food choices. In the public debate, Nutri-Score (NS) is the most favored candidate. Although being widely supported, oppositions on the political and producer levels are raised against the NS, due to the economic impact it could have on specific food sector, and specifically on Geographical Indications (GIs). Recent literature has stressed the need to explore it in more detail. The current study contributes to fill this gap by analyzing consumers' monetary preferences for GI products labelled with different NS levels. An incentivized non-hypothetical experiment was conducted on 188 Italian consumers. Different products representing different levels of NS were used. Specifically, a conventional pasta and the Pasta di Gragnano PGI (NS = A), a conventional flatbread (piadina) and the Piadina Romagnola PGI (NSC), and a conventional hard cheese and the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO (NS = D) were considered in the survey. Results reveal that the NS elicits favorable responses and unfavorable reactions in consumers' preferences, aligning with expectations for A and D scores, respectively. The perceived healthiness of the product significantly affects consumers' WTP, increasing it. Results stress the need to have effective communication strategies within the EU to reach the F2F goals. NS diminishes the premium in prices associated with GIs independently from its level, when considering those consumers who value more the GIs. However, the most well-known GIs does not suffer from this negative effect of the NS, as the positive value associated to the GI offset the negative effect of the NS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Stiletto
- Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture, and Forestry, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
| | - Riccardo Vecchio
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università 100, Portici, Naples, Italy.
| | - Luigi Cembalo
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università 100, Portici, Naples, Italy.
| | - Samuele Trestini
- Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture, and Forestry, University of Padova, Viale dell'Università 16, Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
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Arrazat L, Cambriels C, Noan CL, Nicklaus S, Marty L. Effects of increasing the availability of vegetarian options on main meal choices, meal offer satisfaction and liking: a pre-post analysis in a French university cafeteria. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2024; 21:75. [PMID: 39010118 PMCID: PMC11250975 DOI: 10.1186/s12966-024-01624-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/17/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Changing the food environment is an important public health lever for encouraging sustainable food choices. Targeting the availability of vegetarian main meals served in cafeterias substantially affects food choice, but acceptability has never been assessed. We examined the effects of an availability intervention at a French university cafeteria on students' main meal choices, meal offer satisfaction and liking. METHODS A four-week controlled trial was conducted in a university cafeteria in Dijon, France. During the two-week control period, vegetarian main meals constituted 24% of the offer. In the subsequent two-week intervention period, this proportion increased to 48%, while all the other menu items remained unchanged. Students were not informed of the change. Student choices were tracked using production data, and daily paper ballots were used to assess student satisfaction with the meal offer and liking of the main meal they chose (score range [1;5]). Nutritional quality, environmental impact, and cost of production of meal choices were calculated for each lunchtime. Food waste was measured over 4 lunchtimes during control and intervention periods. An online questionnaire collected student feedback at the end of the study. RESULTS Doubling availability of vegetarian main meals significantly increased the likelihood of choosing vegetarian options (OR = 2.57, 95% CI = [2.41; 2.74]). Responses of the paper ballots (n = 18,342) indicated slight improvements in meal offer satisfaction from 4.05 ± 0.92 to 4.07 ± 0.93 (p = 0.028) and in liking from 4.09 ± 0.90 to 4.13 ± 0.92 (p < 0.001) during control and intervention periods, respectively. The end-of-study questionnaire (n = 510) revealed that only 6% of students noticed a change the availability of vegetarian main meals. The intervention led to a decrease in the environmental impact of the main meals chosen, a slight decrease in nutritional quality, a slight increase in meal costs and no change in food waste. CONCLUSIONS Doubling availability of vegetarian main meals in a university cafeteria resulted in a twofold increase in their selection, with students reporting being more satisfied and liking the main meals more during the intervention period. These results suggest that serving an equal proportion of vegetarian and nonvegetarian main meals could be considered in French university cafeterias to tackle environmental issues. TRIAL REGISTRATION Study protocol and analysis plan were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework ( https://osf.io/pf3x7/ ).
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Arrazat
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Institut Agro, CNRS, INRAE, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
| | - Claire Cambriels
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Institut Agro, CNRS, INRAE, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
| | | | - Sophie Nicklaus
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Institut Agro, CNRS, INRAE, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
| | - Lucile Marty
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, Institut Agro, CNRS, INRAE, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
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Poinsot R, Maillot M, Masset G, Drewnowski A. A three-component Breakfast Quality Score (BQS) to evaluate the nutrient density of breakfast meals. Front Nutr 2023; 10:1213065. [PMID: 37841394 PMCID: PMC10569224 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1213065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Nutrient profiling methods can be applied to individual foods or to composite meals. This article introduces a new method to assess the nutrient density of breakfast meals. Objective This study aimed to develop a new breakfast quality score (BQS), based on the nutrient standards previously published by the International Breakfast Research Initiative (IBRI) consortium. Methods BQS was composed of three sub-scores derived from the weighted arithmetic mean of corresponding nutrient adequacy: an eLIMf sub-score (energy, saturated fat, free sugars, and sodium), a PF (protein and fiber) sub-score, and a VMn1 - 14 micronutrient sub-score, where n varied from 0 to 14. The effects of assigning different weights to the eLIMf, PF, and VMn were explored in four alternative models. The micronutrients were calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and vitamin D. Micronutrient permutations were used to develop alternate VMn1 - 14 sub-scores. The breakfast database used in this study came from all breakfasts declared as consumed by adults (>18 years old) in the French dietary survey INCA3. All models were tested with respect to the Nutrient Rich Food Index (NRF9.3). BQS sensitivity was tested using three prototype French breakfasts, for which improvements were made. Results The correlations of the models with NRF9.3 improved when the VMn>3 sub-score (n > 3) was included alongside the PF and eLIMf sub-scores. The model with (PF+VMn) and eLIMf each accounting for 50% of the total score showed the highest correlations with NRF9.3 and was the preferred final score (i.e., BQS). BQS was sensitive to the changing quality of three prototype breakfasts defined as tartine, sandwich, and cereal. Conclusion The proposed BQS was shown to valuably rank the nutritional density of breakfast meals against a set of nutrient recommendations. It includes nutrients to limit along with protein, fiber, and a variable number of micronutrients to encourage. The flexible VMn sub-score allows for the evaluation of breakfast quality even when nutrient composition data are limited.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Adam Drewnowski
- Center for Public Health Nutrition, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
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Stiletto A, Cei L, Trestini S. A Little Bird Told Me… Nutri-Score Panoramas from a Flight over Europe, Connecting Science and Society. Nutrients 2023; 15:3367. [PMID: 37571304 PMCID: PMC10421117 DOI: 10.3390/nu15153367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Within the Farm to Fork Strategy, the European Commission ask for a unified Front Of Pack nutritional label for food to be used at the European level. The scientific debate identified the Nutri-Score (NS) as the most promising candidate, but within the political discussion, some Member States brought to attention several issues related to its introduction. This misalignment led to a postponement of the final decision. With the aim to shed some light on the current stances and contribute to the forthcoming debate, the objective of the present work is to understand to what extent scientific research addresses the issues raised by the general public. We applied a structural topic model to tweets from four European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain) and to abstracts of scientific papers, all dealing with the NS topic. Different aspects of the NS debate are discussed in different countries, but scientific research, while addressing some of them (e.g., the comparison between NS and other labels), disregards others (e.g., relations between NS and traditional products). It is advisable, therefore, to widen the scope of NS research to properly address the concerns of European society and to provide policymakers with robust evidence to support their decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Samuele Trestini
- Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy; (A.S.); (L.C.)
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Vitale M, Crossland S, Shinwell J, Stretesky PB, Defeyter MA, Brownlee IA. The Nutritional Quality of Food Provision at UK Government-Funded Holiday Clubs: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Energy and Nutrient Content. Nutrients 2023; 15:1937. [PMID: 37111156 PMCID: PMC10144653 DOI: 10.3390/nu15081937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
A large proportion of children are at risk of food insecurity during school holidays in the UK. The government-funded Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme provides free holiday clubs offering at least one healthy meal/day to eligible children and adolescents. This study aims at evaluating the nutritional quality of food provision at HAF holiday clubs, particularly hot/cold and vegetarian/non-vegetarian meals. Menu variants (n = 2759) from 49 HAF holiday clubs were assessed for adherence to School Food Standards (SFS) and their notional compositional quality, which was scored utilising a novel nutrient-based meal quality index. The median adherence to SFS across all available menus was 70% (IQR 59-79%). Overall, hot variants scored statistically higher menu quality scores than cold variants for both 5-11y (92.3 (80.7-102.7) vs. 80.4 (69.3-90.6)) and 11-18y (73.5 (62.5-85.8) vs. 58.9 (50.0-70.7)) criteria. Cold and hot menu variants tended to score differentially for quality sub-components. These findings highlight areas for potential future improvement in HAF holiday club provision with a tendency for food provision to appear less ideal for attendees for those aged 11-18. Ensuring that children from low-income households have access to a healthy diet is crucial to reduce UK health inequalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Vitale
- Department of Applied Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; (M.V.); (S.C.)
| | - Shannon Crossland
- Department of Applied Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; (M.V.); (S.C.)
| | - Jackie Shinwell
- Healthy Living Lab, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; (J.S.); (M.A.D.)
| | - Paul B. Stretesky
- Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7YT, UK;
| | - Margaret Anne Defeyter
- Healthy Living Lab, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; (J.S.); (M.A.D.)
| | - Iain Andrew Brownlee
- Department of Applied Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; (M.V.); (S.C.)
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Nutri-Score: Its Benefits and Limitations in Children's Feeding. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2023; 76:e46-e60. [PMID: 36399776 DOI: 10.1097/mpg.0000000000003657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Reducing the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is one of the top priorities of public health policies worldwide. One of the recognized means of achieving this objective is to improve the diet quality. The Nutri-Score (N-S) is a [five-color-A, B, C, D, E letters] front-of-pack labeling logo intended to help consumers quickly identify the healthier prepackaged foods within a food category. Available studies have shown that the N-S is an efficient tool to achieve this aim in terms of consumers' awareness, perception, understanding, and purchasing and that its use may help to reduce the prevalence of NCDs. The N-S is currently implemented on a voluntary basis in 7 European countries and a discussion is underway within the European Commission to achieve a harmonized mandatory label. However, no study on the putative impact of the N-S on children's dietary patterns and health is available. The N-S is not applicable to infants' and young children's formulas and to specific baby foods, the compositions of which are already laid down in European Union regulations. The N-S does not replace age-appropriate dietary guidelines. As children consume an increasing number of adult type and processed foods, the relevance of the N-S for children should be evaluated considering the children's high specific requirements, especially in younger children. This is especially necessary for fitting fat and iron requirements, whereas protein-rich foods should be better framed. Moreover, efforts should be made to inform on how to use the N-S and in education on healthy diets.
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Dahmani J, Nicklaus S, Grenier JM, Marty L. Nutritional quality and greenhouse gas emissions of vegetarian and non-vegetarian primary school meals: A case study in Dijon, France. Front Nutr 2022; 9:997144. [PMID: 36299986 PMCID: PMC9590375 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.997144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Since 2018 in France, national regulation mandates that school canteens serve a weekly vegetarian meal to reduce school canteens' environmental impact in addition to previous regulations imposing nutritional composition guidelines. However, a lunch without meat is often perceived as inadequate to cover the nutritional needs of children. The present study aims to assess the nutritional quality and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) of vegetarian and non-vegetarian school meals served in primary schools in Dijon, France. The catering department provided the composition of 249 meals served in 2019. Nutritional content and GHGE were retrieved from national food databases. The portion size of each meal component was the standard portion size recommended by the relevant French authority (GEMRCN). Meals were classified into vegetarian meals, i.e., without meat or fish (n = 66), or non-vegetarian meals (n = 183). The nutritional adequacy of the meals for children aged from 6 to 11 years was estimated using the mean adequacy ratio (MAR/2,000 kcal) as the mean percentage of daily recommended intake for 23 nutrients and the mean excess ratio (MER/2,000 kcal) as the mean percentage of excess compared to the maximum daily recommended value for three nutrients. This analysis of actual school meals shows that both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals had a similar good nutritional quality with MAR/2,000 kcal of 87.5% (SD 5.8) for vegetarian and of 88.5% (SD 4.5) for non-vegetarian meals, and a MER/2,000 kcal of 19.3% (SD 15.0) for vegetarian and of 19.1% (SD 18.6) for non-vegetarian meals. GHGE were more than twofold reduced in vegetarian compared to non-vegetarian meals (0.9 (SD 0.3) vs. 2.1 (SD 1.0) kgC02 eq/meal). Thus, increasing the frequency of vegetarian meals, by serving egg-based, dairy-based or vegan recipes more frequently, would reduce GHGE while maintaining adequate nutritional quality of primary school meals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justine Dahmani
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Sophie Nicklaus
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Jean-Michel Grenier
- Direction de la restauration municipale et de l'alimentation durable de la Ville de Dijon, Dijon, France
| | - Lucile Marty
- Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France,*Correspondence: Lucile Marty
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Gustafson DI, Decker EA, Drewnowski A, Hamm MW, Hwang J, Merrigan KA. Making Healthy, Sustainable Diets Accessible and Achievable: A New Framework for Assessing the Nutrition, Environmental, and Equity Impacts of Packaged Foods. Curr Dev Nutr 2022; 6:nzac136. [PMID: 36204327 PMCID: PMC9529222 DOI: 10.1093/cdn/nzac136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a growing global consensus among food system experts that diets and how we source our foods must change. The sustainable nutrition community continues exploring the environmental impact and dietary value of foods. Packaged foods have been largely ignored within the dialogue, and if they are addressed, existing frameworks tend to label them all as "ultraprocessed" and uniformly discourage their consumption. This approach lacks the nuance needed to holistically evaluate packaged foods within recommended dietary patterns. Additionally, there is considerable diversity of opinion within the literature on these topics, especially on how best to improve nutrition security in populations most at risk of diet-related chronic disease. In support of addressing these challenges, 8 sustainability and nutrition experts were convened by Clif Bar & Company for a facilitated discussion on the urgent need to drive adoption of healthy, sustainable diets; the crucial role that certain packaged foods can play in helping make such diets achievable and accessible; and the need for actionable guidance around how to recommend and choose packaged foods that consider human, societal, and planetary health. This article summarizes the meeting discussion, which informed the development of a proposed framework based on guiding principles for defining sustainable, nutritious packaged foods across key nutrition, environmental, economic, and sociocultural well-being indicators. Although additional research is needed to substantiate specific metrics in order to operationalize the framework, it is intended to be a foundation from which to build and refine as science and measurement capabilities advance, and an important step toward broader adoption of healthy, sustainable diets.
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Affiliation(s)
- David I Gustafson
- Adjunct Research Faculty, Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Eric A Decker
- Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Adam Drewnowski
- Center for Public Health Nutrition, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; USA
| | - Michael W Hamm
- Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Jane Hwang
- Social Accountability International, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kathleen A Merrigan
- Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
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Koeder C, Perez-Cueto FJA. Vegan nutrition: a preliminary guide for health professionals. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2022; 64:670-707. [PMID: 35959711 DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2022.2107997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Since the beginning of the 21st century, interest in vegan diets has been rapidly increasing in most countries. Misconceptions about vegan diets are widespread among the general population and health professionals. Vegan diets can be health-promoting and may offer certain important advantages compared to typical Western (and other mainstream) eating patterns. However, adequate dietary sources/supplements of nutrients of focus specific to vegan diets should be identified and communicated. Without supplements/fortified foods, severe vitamin B12 deficiency may occur. Other potential nutrients of focus are calcium, vitamin D, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, selenium, vitamin A, and protein. Ensuring adequate nutrient status is particularly important during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, and childhood. Health professionals are often expected to be able to provide advice on the topic of vegan nutrition, but a precise and practical vegan nutrition guide for health professionals is lacking. Consequently, it is important and urgent to provide such a set of dietary recommendations. It is the aim of this article to provide vegan nutrition guidelines, based on current evidence, which can easily be communicated to vegan patients/clients, with the goal of ensuring adequate nutrient status in vegans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Koeder
- Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Leibniz University Hanover, Hanover, Germany
- Department of Nutrition, University of Applied Sciences Münster, Münster, Germany
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Murillo AG, Gómez G, Durán-Agüero S, Parra-Soto SL, Araneda J, Morales G, Ríos-Castillo I, Carpio-Arias V, Cavagnari BM, Nava-González EJ, Bejarano-Roncancio JJ, Núñez-Martínez B, Cordón-Arrivillaga K, Meza-Miranda ER, Mauricio-Alza S, Landaeta-Díaz L. Dietary Patterns and Dietary Recommendations Achievement From Latin American College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2022.836299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to compare the diet quality of different dietary patterns among college students from Latin American countries, including vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional, observational, multicenter study was conducted including a non- probabilistic sample of university students from 10 countries. University students were invited to participate in the study through social network platforms. Participants were self-reported to have followed a specific dietary pattern; either the Prudent diet, Western diet, Ovo-dairy-vegetarian diet, Fish-vegetarian diet, Strict vegetarian diet (vegan) or other. The last three patterns (vegetarians and vegans) were grouped as following a plant-based diet. A self-assessment survey was used to evaluate healthy eating habits using a questionnaire with values between 1 (do not consume) and 5 (consume) for a total of 9–45 points (higher values represent better eating habits). Unhealthy habits were assessed with nine questions. A total of 4,809 students filled out the questionnaire, and the majority of them were females (73.7%). A high percentage have been in lockdown for more than 5 months and were in lockdown when the survey was released. 74.3% were self-reported to follow a prudent diet, while 11.4% reported following a western dietary pattern and 8.8% a plant-based diet. When compliance with healthy and unhealthy dietary habits was analyzed, although all groups had low compliance, the plant-based diet group (56.09 ± 6.11) performed better than the Western diet group (48.03 ± 5.99). The total diet quality score was significantly higher for plant-based diet followers, who also tended to better achieve the recommendations than omnivorous students, especially the ones following a western diet. These results present evidence that young adults such as college-aged students have unhealthy dietary habits. However, the ones who follow a plant-based diet such as vegetarians and vegans exhibit better scores and healthier dietary conducts.
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12
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Number of meal components, nutritional guidelines, vegetarian meals, avoiding ruminant meat: what is the best trade-off for improving school meal sustainability? Eur J Nutr 2022; 61:3003-3018. [PMID: 35325264 DOI: 10.1007/s00394-022-02868-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE School meals have the potential to promote more sustainable diets. Our aim was to identify the best trade-off between nutrition and the environment by applying four levers to school meals: (i) reducing the number of meal components, (ii) complying with the French school nutritional guidelines, (iii) increasing the number of vegetarian meals, and/or (iv) avoiding ruminant meat. METHODS Levers were analyzed alone or in combination in 17 scenarios. For each scenario, 100 series of 20 meals were generated from a database of 2316 school dishes using mathematical optimization. The nutritional quality of the series was assessed through the mean adequacy ratio (MAR/2000 kcal). Seven environmental impacts were considered such as greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). One scenario, close to series usually served in French schools (containing four vegetarian meals, at least four ruminant meat-based meals, and at least four fish-based meals) was considered as the reference scenario. RESULTS Reducing the number of meal components induced an important decrease of the energy content but the environmental impact was little altered. Complying with school-specific nutritional guidelines ensured nutritional quality but slightly increased GHGE. Increasing the number of vegetarian meals decreased GHGE (from 11.7 to 61.2%) but decreased nutritional quality, especially when all meals were vegetarian (MAR = 88.1% against 95.3% in the reference scenario). Compared to the reference scenario, series with 12 vegetarian meals, 4 meals containing fish and 4 meals containing pork or poultry reduced GHGE by 50% while maintaining good nutritional quality (MAR = 94.0%). CONCLUSION Updating French school nutritional guidelines by increasing the number of vegetarian meals up to 12 over 20 and serving non-ruminant meats and fish with the other meals would be the best trade-off for decreasing the environmental impacts of meals without altering their nutritional quality.
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