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Our food systems, encompassing the way we produce and consume food, have a profound connection to both the environment and our health. Diets high in salt, added sugars, and trans fats can have detrimental effects on our well-being, potentially leading to premature mortality. Simultaneously, the production of food can contribute to issues like soil pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and excess packaging waste. Fortunately, WHO/Europe has introduced a new tool for diet impact assessment (DIA) to shed light on the relationship between food systems, health, and the environment.
Unhealthy diets often go underestimated as risks. Across various regions in the WHO European Region and beyond, diets and food systems are frequently neither nutritious nor sustainable. Such diets represent a significant risk factor for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), ranging from diabetes to cancer and cardiovascular ailments, and account for one in every five global deaths.
Globally, around 2 billion people grapple with overweight and obesity. Moreover, in the Region, this issue affects one in every three primary school-aged children.
Dr. Kremlin Wickramasinghe, WHO/Europe’s Regional Adviser on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, emphasized, “In addition to the evident dangers of unhealthy diets, there is a broader concern about food production in our Region. The global approach to producing and consuming food has led us to exceed what is considered a safe threshold for the Earth’s stability. Furthermore, if a healthy and sustainable diet comes with a hefty price tag, this is detrimental not only for most households but also for the economies of countries.”
The environmental impact of food production is staggering. Agriculture is responsible for approximately a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions and consumes 70% of the world’s freshwater resources. Excessive use of fertilizers in certain areas has resulted in surface and groundwater pollution, leading to dead zones in oceans.
With the global population projected to grow from 7 billion to nearly 10 billion by mid-century, the impact on both health and the environment is likely to worsen. The demand for foods like meat, dairy, and processed products, which can negatively affect both human health and the environment, is also on the rise.
Without altering our approach to food production and consumption, including a shift towards healthier and more plant-based diets, we run the risk of jeopardizing the well-being of our planet and potentially facing dangerous levels of climate change.
The Diet Impact Assessment (DIA) tool has been developed for policy-makers, researchers, and practitioners in countries within the WHO European Region. It serves as a data-driven resource to assess diets and seek answers to critical questions:
- How can countries influence their populations’ diets to make them healthier, more sustainable, and cost-effective?
- How do current popular diets align with global health and environmental objectives?
- What policy changes hold the potential to address the primary environmental, health, and economic challenges stemming from countries’ food systems?
For each dietary scenario, the DIA evaluates both health indicators (such as preventable premature deaths, risk factors for cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, and weight-related risks) and environmental analyses (including greenhouse gas emissions, cropland usage, and freshwater consumption).
Dr. Wickramasinghe clarified, “The DIA tool empowers countries to craft more sustainable policies backed by data, tailored to their populations. It examines not only the health, economic, and environmental impact of diets but also allows for the projection of different dietary change scenarios, estimating the health, environmental, and cost implications of each scenario.”
Download here
The Diet Impact Assessment model: a tool for analyzing the health, environmental and affordability implications of dietary change
