How may a shift towards a more sustainable food consumption pattern affect nutrient intakes of Dutch children?

Abstract

Objective: Food has a considerable environmental impact. Diets with less meat and dairy reduce environmental impact but may pose nutritional challenges for children. The current modelling study investigates the impact of diets with less or no meat and dairy products on nutrient intakes. Design: Energy and nutrient intakes were assessed for observed consumption patterns (reference) and two replacement scenarios with data from the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey -Young Children (2005)(2006). In the replacement scenarios, 30 % or 100 % of the consumed dairy and meat (in grams) was replaced by plant-derived foods with similar use. Setting: The Netherlands. Subjects: Children (n 1279) aged 2-6 years. Results: Partial and full replacement of meat and dairy foods by plant-derived foods reduced SFA intake by 9 % and 26 %, respectively, while fibre intake was 8 % and 29 % higher. With partial replacement, micronutrient intakes were similar, except for lower vitamin B 12 intake. After full meat and dairy replacement, mean intakes of Ca, Zn and thiamin decreased by 5-13 %, and vitamin B 12 intake by 49 %, while total intake of Fe was higher but of lower bioavailability. With full replacement, the proportion of girls aged 4-6 years with intakes below recommendations was 15 % for thiamin, 10 % for vitamin B 12 and 6 % for Zn. Conclusions: Partial replacement of meat and dairy by plant-derived foods is beneficial for children's health by lowering SFA intake, increasing fibre content and maintaining similar micronutrient intakes. When full replacements are made, attention is recommended to ensure adequate thiamin, vitamin B 12 and Zn intakes.

The importance of school lunches to the overall dietary intake of children in Sweden: a nationally representative study

“…This may not only have negative implications for health but also may be seen as problematic from an environmental sustainability perspective (58) . In a modelling study from the Netherlands, a partial replacement of animal products with plant-based foods lowered saturated fatty acid intake and increased pupils' fibre intake (59) while maintaining micronutrient intakes. Hence, there is a need to explore how the Swedish school meal system could address these challenges by serving lunches that meet both health and environmental goals.…”

A probabilistic approach for risk-benefit assessment of food substitutions: A case study on substituting meat by fish

“…Other studies have investigated the impact of substituting between different food groups on nutrient intakes (Hollander et al 2018;Roodenburg et al 2013;Temme et al 2015Temme et al , 2011Temme et al , 2013Tetens et al 2013b;van der Voet et al 2007). Van der Voet et al substituted meat on fractions of meat consumption days by fish while others substituted fractions of meat consumption amounts by plantbased foods (Temme et al 2015(Temme et al , 2013. In another study, the substitution of foods not complying with Dutch health logo criteria were substituted with foods that did comply with these criteria (Roodenburg et al 2013;Temme et al 2011).…”

“…However, individual foods are part of a whole diet, and thus the scenarios of RBAs investigating changes in consumption of foods do not reflect interventions in a real-life setting. Few RBAs have included substitution of food components (Hendriksen et al 2011;Husøy et al 2008;Verhagen et al 2012) and of foods (Hollander et al 2018;Roodenburg et al 2013;Temme et al 2015Temme et al , 2013Tetens et al 2013b;Thomsen et al 2018;van der Voet et al 2007). Whereas substitutions of food components, such as food fortification or replacement of one food component with another, are easier to model, food substitutions may be more complex and variable between individuals, making it difficult to predict how people will substitute.…”

Mathematical Optimization to Explore Tomorrow's Sustainable Diets: A Narrative Review

“…Substitution approaches can test an “a priori hypothesis” by replacing one or several foods with others, on the basis of a priori reasoning. Food-substitution methods have been used to assess nutritional ( 9–11 ) and economic ( 12–14 ) or environmental ( 15 , 16 ) impacts of dietary changes. An alternative substitution method used an iterative process to identify, without a priori reasoning, the best food and beverage substitutions required within a diet to improve a nutritional quality score ( 17 ).…”