A healthy and sustainable diet could prevent premature deaths globally

What is it about?

Unhealthy foods contribute to risks of noncommunicable diseases and premature death. However, people might be less aware that the production of these foods also increase greenhouse gas emissions and excessive land use, thus contributing importantly to climate change and other threats to environmental sustainability. The Planetary Health Diet (PHD) has demonstrated important benefits for both human health and planetary health. This diet emphasizes the consumption of whole grains instead of refined grains and potatoes, plant-based protein sources instead of red meat, and unsaturated plant oils instead of saturated fats. It also includes generous amounts of fruits and vegetables, moderate amounts of dairy, fish, eggs, and poultry, and limits added sugars and salt. We evaluated how well current national diets aligned with the PHD recommendations and found that current diets were universally far from optimal. We also estimated that improving global adherence to the PHD, even partially towards an optimal diet, could prevent approximately 15 million premature deaths among adults annually. This accounts for 27% of total deaths among adults, emphasizing the substantial health benefits of adopting a healthy and sustainable diet. In the US alone, such dietary improvement could prevent about 900,000 premature deaths among adults each year, accounting for 31% of total adult deaths.

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Photo by Jacopo Maiarelli on Unsplash

Photo by Jacopo Maiarelli on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our study underscores the urgent need for the global adoption of healthy and sustainable diets to reduce premature deaths and to mitigate climate change and other environmental impact of food systems. By evaluating how well countries adhere to the PHD and estimating the potential reduction in deaths, our study identifies areas for improvement. These insights can guide policymakers in prioritizing public health initiatives, making it a vital resource for shaping future health and environmental policies.