Do diets with higher carbon footprints increase the risk of mortality? A population-based simulation study using self-selected diets from the USA.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Are diets with a greater environmental impact less healthy? This is a key question for nutrition policy, but previous research does not provide a clear answer. To address this, our objective here was to test whether American diets with the highest carbon footprints predicted greater population-level mortality from diet-related chronic disease than those with the lowest.

Design

Baseline dietary recall data were combined with a database of greenhouse gases emitted in the production of foods to estimate a carbon footprint for each diet. Diets were ranked on their carbon footprints and those in the highest and lowest quintiles were studied here. Preventable Risk Integrated Model (PRIME), an epidemiological modelling software, was used to assess CVD and cancer mortality

SUBMITTER: Pollock BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9991612 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature