Research finds governmental dietary guidelines harming the planet | Food

Official dietary advice around the world has been harmful to both the environment and people’s health, according to scientists who have performed the most comprehensive evaluation of national dietary guidelines to date.

Food accounts for a quarter of the emissions and millions of premature deaths that are causing the climate crisis. The analysis evaluated all available dietary guidelines covering 85 countries and all regions of the world. Researchers said the government’s failure to help people eat a good diet was “shocking”.

In all countries surveyed, this study found that the diets people eat today contain more red meat and processed meat than recommended by national or World Health Organization guidelines, and some Except for countries, there are too few fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts and whole grains.

However, even if these guidelines are followed, research has shown that only two countries have dietary guidelines in line with government-set health, climate and pollution goals.

The researchers also said,Planet health dietPublished by scientists in 2019, Developed country.. By adopting this diet and using campaigns and regulations to help people meet that requirement, greenhouse gas emissions have been significantly reduced, and diets for diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes can be significantly reduced. The number of associated early deaths is reduced.

In the UK, a planetary health diet reduces food-related emissions by 70% and diet-related mortality by 104,000 each year compared to people’s current diets. In the United States, studies show that the average citizen’s actual diet does not meet national advice for any food group, resulting in a 74% reduction in emissions and a reduction of 585,000 deaths. Australia’s emission reductions were even higher, down 86% and killing 31,000 people.

“The country is surprisingly bad at helping to say what their population is saying is a good diet,” said Marco Springman of Oxford University, who led the study. “It was really shocking.”

“Most governments are reluctant to provide clear recommendations on consumption restrictions [meat and dairy], Despite their exceptionally high emissions and resource use,” he said. “Evidence of Environmental impact of dietary choices It’s growing, so it’s really important that the formal dietary advice be in line with it. “

research, Published in British Medical Journal, Evaluated dietary guidelines against five environmental goals and one government-signed health goal. The health goal is to reduce premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases by a third. On the other hand, what are the environmental goals related to the 2C limit for global warming, the destruction of wild areas, the use of fresh water, and the pollution of nitrogen and phosphate by agriculture set by the Paris Agreement?

Dietary guidelines in 2 out of 85 countries (Indonesia and Sierra Leone) met all 6 of these goals, while 74 countries failed to meet the Paris goals.

Researchers recommend that countries set new dietary guidelines in line with current science. This includes “strict” limits in countries with high levels of beef and dairy products. Governments must also provide examples of healthy and sustainable diets, including plant-based diets.

“But even the best dietary guidelines are meaningless if they’re not backed by a targeted health promotion program,” Springman said. “These really need bigger investments. They also need stronger regulation of the entire food system, including food companies.”

Governments can also buy a lot of food at schools, for example, and use it to facilitate a dietary shift. A government employee serving billions of meals a year at UK schools, colleges, hospitals and nursing homes has already promised: Reduce the amount of meat they produce by 20%..

“as a whole, [planetary health diet] It appears to be excellent at reducing mortality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from non-communicable diseases.

“However, [planetary health diet] Without economic growth and improved local food production and supply, it is not affordable for many of the low-income countries globally,” they said.

Springman said people in poor countries often eat a monotonic diet based on a single grain or root, and adding other foods increases costs. The question was how to help improve these diets: “Do you want them to adopt a Western diet that is unhealthy and unsustainable? Or in the medium term Want a healthy and sustainable diet?”