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Nutrients
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Malnutrition and Unsustainability: The Role of the Diet in Achieving...
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Malnutrition and Unsustainability: The Role of the Diet in Achieving Global Security and an Adequate, Safe, and Sustainable Food System

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2021) | Viewed by 25228

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Marika Ferrari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Research Centre for Food and Nutrition (CREA–Food and Nutrition), Via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Rome, Italy
Interests: food consumption data assessement at national level (EFSA EU Menu methodology); environmental impact of food choices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am very pleased to announce a Special Issue of the Nutrients journal entitled “Malnutrition and Unsustainability: The Role of the Diet in Achieving Global Security and an Adequate, Safe, and Sustainable Food System.” I, as Guest Editor of this Special Issue, invite you to submit your articles, such as original research, reviews, opinions, and short communications, on this topic.

A diet is a selection of foods, eaten by an individual, chosen between those made available/accessible by the food system. Conversely, the sum of diets creates the overall food demand that directs food systems. Diets are thus both a result and a driver of food systems. Therefore, approaching food systems by adopting the perspective of diets can bring operational insights to the issue of the evolution of food systems towards sustainability according to its four dimensions: ecological, economic, social and food security and nutrition. Diet can be a good entry point to see what can be done individually and collectively to improve the ability of food systems to provide sufficient quantity, quality, and diversity of safe, affordable, and nutritious foods preserving biodiversity at production level and diversity of diet. This is challenging because of the non-linearity of the relationships, but for the same reason it is very interesting trying to find innovative solutions.

Examples of important research questions that this Special Issue hopes to address include (but are not limited to):

  • Are some target groups more susceptible to unsustainable diet for micronutrient deficiency/hunger and/or obesity than others?
  • How can we operationalize changes in the food system and diet combining health aspects and sustainable dimensions?
  • What is the contribution of national dietary guidelines to address the shift versus a sustainable diet?
  • How is a possible strategy to ensure biodiversity and nutrition security through food consumption?

Dr. Marika Ferrari
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Food security
  • Malnutrition
  • Healthy and sustainable diet
  • Food Consumption
  • Sustainable food system
  • Safe, affordable, and nutritious foods
  • Public health strategies
  • Dietary guidelines

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 806 KiB  
Communication
Role of Food Industry in Promoting Healthy and Sustainable Diets
by Kevin B. Miller, James O. Eckberg, Eric A. Decker and Christopher P. F. Marinangeli
Nutrients 2021, 13(8), 2740; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082740 - 10 Aug 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6922
Abstract
Sustainable food systems are often defined by greenhouse gases, land use, effects on biodiversity, and water use. However, this approach does not recognize the reason food is produced—the provision of nutrients. Recently, the relationship between diets and sustainability has been recognized. Most accepted [...] Read more.
Sustainable food systems are often defined by greenhouse gases, land use, effects on biodiversity, and water use. However, this approach does not recognize the reason food is produced—the provision of nutrients. Recently, the relationship between diets and sustainability has been recognized. Most accepted models of ‘sustainable diets’ focus on four domains: public health, the environment, food affordability, and cultural relevance. Aligned with the FAO’s perspective, truly sustainable diets comprise foods that are affordable, nutritious, developed with ingredients produced in an environmentally friendly manner, and consumer preferred. Identifying solutions to address all four domains simultaneously remains a challenge. Furthermore, the recent pandemic exposed the fragility of the food supply when food accessibility and affordability became primary concerns. There have been increasing calls for more nutrient-dense and sustainable foods, but scant recognition of the consumer’s role in adopting and integrating these foods into their diet. Dietary recommendations promoting sustainable themes often overlook how and why people eat what they do. Taste, cost, and health motivate consumer food purchase and the food system must address those considerations. Sustainable foods are perceived to be expensive, thus marginalizing acceptance by the people, which is needed for broad adoption into diets for impactful change. Transformational change is needed in food systems and supply chains to address the complex issues related to sustainability, taste, and cost. An emerging movement called regenerative agriculture (a holistic, nature-based approach to farming) provides a pathway to delivering sustainable foods at an affordable cost to consumers. A broad coalition among academia, government, and the food industry can help to ensure that the food supply concurrently prioritizes sustainability and nutrient density in the framework of consumer-preferred foods. The coalition can also help to ensure sustainable diets are broadly adopted by consumers. This commentary will focus on the challenges and opportunities for the food industry and partners to deliver a sustainable supply of nutrient-dense foods while meeting consumer expectations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Malnutrition and Unsustainability: The Role of the Diet in Achieving Global Security and an Adequate, Safe, and Sustainable Food System)
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13 pages, 930 KiB  
Article
The Promotions of Sustainable Lunch Meals in School Feeding Programs: The Case of Italy
by Laura Rossi, Marika Ferrari, Deborah Martone, Luca Benvenuti and Alberto De Santis
Nutrients 2021, 13(5), 1571; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13051571 - 7 May 2021
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5592
Abstract
School is considered a privileged environment for health education and school feeding represents an opportunity for promoting sustainable foods to young generations. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that is possible to select, from existing school menus, recipes that combine healthy [...] Read more.
School is considered a privileged environment for health education and school feeding represents an opportunity for promoting sustainable foods to young generations. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that is possible to select, from existing school menus, recipes that combine healthy foods with low environmental impact. A national sample of Italian school menus was collected and a total number of 194 recipes were included on a database containing 70 first courses, 83 s courses, 39 side dishes, 1 portion of fruit, and 1 portion of bread. A mathematical model was conceived to combine nutritional adequacy and acceptability criteria while minimizing GHGs emissions. The result is a four-week menu characterized by large vegetable components that were used not only as side dishes but also as ingredients in the first and second courses. Legumes and pasta are often included, and white meat is selected instead of red meat. The findings presented in this paper demonstrated that it is possible to design environmental-friendly meals from existing school menus. The mathematical model developed in this work has the potentiality of being completely scalable, easily updatable, and widely utilizable in different settings either for design or monitoring purposes as well as for research data collection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Malnutrition and Unsustainability: The Role of the Diet in Achieving Global Security and an Adequate, Safe, and Sustainable Food System)
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Review

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13 pages, 932 KiB  
Review
Principles of Sustainable Healthy Diets in Worldwide Dietary Guidelines: Efforts So Far and Future Perspectives
by Daniela Martini, Massimiliano Tucci, James Bradfield, Antonio Di Giorgio, Mirko Marino, Cristian Del Bo', Marisa Porrini and Patrizia Riso
Nutrients 2021, 13(6), 1827; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13061827 - 27 May 2021
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 6109
Abstract
Food choices and eating behaviours have a large impact on both human and planetary health. Recently, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation have developed a list of 16 guiding principles to achieve sustainable healthy [...] Read more.
Food choices and eating behaviours have a large impact on both human and planetary health. Recently, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation have developed a list of 16 guiding principles to achieve sustainable healthy diets (SHDs). They proposed that development of food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) should be a core element in the implementation of these SHDs in each country. The objective of this review is to explore the degree of alignment of current FBDGs to these guiding principles. A total of 43 FBDGs, written or translated into English, were collected from the online repository developed by the FAO and were analysed for their adherence to each of the guiding principles. Results were stratified for period of publication and geographical macro-area. Overall, there were high levels of inclusion of the factors related to health outcomes, especially in the most recent FBDGs. Conversely, environmental impact and socio-cultural aspects of diet were considered less frequently, especially in the older FBDGs. These results highlight the importance of revising FBDGs, especially to include emerging topics which represent the areas with the highest scope for improvement in the future versions of FBDGs. Replication of the present study in the coming years will be worthwhile to monitor improvements in the adherence of global FBDGs to the guiding principles of SHDs. The attainment of such a goal could promote a more rapid transition towards SHDs, as well as highlighting pivotal research trajectories to increase adoption and evaluate the impact on the food system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Malnutrition and Unsustainability: The Role of the Diet in Achieving Global Security and an Adequate, Safe, and Sustainable Food System)
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14 pages, 1256 KiB  
Review
The Promotion of Sustainable Diets in the Healthcare System and Implications for Health Professionals: A Scoping Review
by Goiuri Alberdi and Mirene Begiristain-Zubillaga
Nutrients 2021, 13(3), 747; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030747 - 26 Feb 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4797
Abstract
The impacts of the current global food system are already visible in the environment and in the health of the population. The promotion of sustainable diets is key to counter the negative consequences. The healthcare system could be a powerful tool to educate [...] Read more.
The impacts of the current global food system are already visible in the environment and in the health of the population. The promotion of sustainable diets is key to counter the negative consequences. The healthcare system could be a powerful tool to educate patients by guiding their diets towards sustainability. This study aimed to assess the size and scope of the available literature regarding the promotion of sustainable diets in the healthcare system and to obtain a reliable approximation of the processes and roles related to sustainable diet promotion within healthcare systems. A scoping review where online databases were used to identify English written scientific and grey literature published between 2000–2019 was carried out. The analytical–synthetic approach was used for data charting. Twelve studies were included that were published between 2007–2020. The data highlight education, community and clinical health services, community engagement and policy advocacy, and governance as main action areas along with two transversal aspects, social support, and gender. A systemic approach to the food system is emphasized. Evidence suggests that health professionals have the potential to drive a paradigm shift in food–health environments. Currently, however, their role and potential impact is underestimated within healthcare systems. This review has identified a framework with key areas where processes need to be developed to guarantee sustainable diet promotion in healthcare services. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Malnutrition and Unsustainability: The Role of the Diet in Achieving Global Security and an Adequate, Safe, and Sustainable Food System)
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