Healthy people, healthy planet

Healthy people, healthy planet

Why dietary advice should incorporate sustainability to improve health and protect the environment

Associate Professor Aifric O'Sullivan & Dr Katie Davies, UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science

Summary

The issue: Unhealthy diets cause around 1 in 5 deaths every year. Meanwhile, the global food system contributes over a third of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). More than 100 countries have developed dietary guidelines, but poor adherence limits their impact.

Key insights: Dietary guidelines that incorporate sustainability can improve health and significantly reduce the environmental impact of the food system, while personalising dietary advice can increase adherence. Few dietary guidelines explicitly address the environmental impacts of diet, and those that do often lack specificity and do not account for individual differences.

Policy implications

1. Develop dietary guidelines with a focus on environmental sustainability.
2. Improve adherence to existing guidelines through behavioural supports.
3. Integrate personalised nutrition in future guidelines, tailoring advice to account for individual differences.
4. Use precise, actionable language in dietary recommendations.