Planetary Health Diet

Peer reviewed / Manuscript (original) submitted: 29 April 2021 / Revision accepted: 05 March 2022

Promoting a sustainable plant-based diet among adolescents and young adults (part 1)

Introduction Our current global production, processing, and distribution of food have a considerable impact on climate change, loss of biodiversity, changes in land use, and the nutrient cycles in the soil, water, and atmosphere [1, 2]. As a result, the resources for future food production are reduced [2], whilst at the same time the demand for food is increasing due to the growing global population [3]. This means that dietary patterns not only influence health [4], but also have environmental and social effects [5].

As a framework for developing more sustainable dietary patterns and future-proofing food production, in 2019 the EAT Lancet Commission published the planetary health diet (PHD). Compared to the current dietary habits of the German population, this envisages a greater consumption of fruit, vegetables and nuts, wholegrain cereals, and unsaturated fatty acids. At the same time it encourages reducing the amounts of meat, milk products, saturated fatty acids, and sugars [5].
Aside from small changes, such as pulses as a separate food group recommended explicitly as a source of protein [5], the PHD corresponds widely to the 10 rules of the German Nutrition Society (DGE) [6] (⇒ DGE statement on “The Planetary Health Diet in contrast to the foodbased dietary guidelines of the German Nutrition Society [DGE]” on the preceding pages). However, with its focus on the environment and food security, the PHD brings forward partially different arguments for dietary changes and therefore provides additional approaches for nutrition communication.

Abstract

The dietary patterns of young people from lower educational backgrounds, which are rich in animal products and low-fiber foods, facilitate the development of nutrition-related diseases and environmental damage. For this reason, campaign strategies should be developed to communicate specifically to this target group and promote plant-based nutrition along the lines of the planetary health diet (PHD). To this end, the eating habits of the target group were examined for correspondence with the PHD and an investigation was made to determine the factors which can positively and negatively influence the corresponding behavioral changes. A total of 215 participants between the ages of 16 and 29 were surveyed using an online questionnaire (part 1) on the basis of which strategies were developed for possible campaigns (part 2).

Keywords: planetary health diet, nutrition communication, behavioral change, adolescents, young adults, sustainability, public health nutrition, plant-based diet

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