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Food Consumption and Human Health

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Public Health Statistics and Risk Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 16702

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: food consumption; nutrition transition; agricultural production
Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: micronutrients; pregnancy; infant
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The developing world is undergoing a dramatic transition in food consumption. Diets which have traditionally been high in complex carbohydrates and fiber, are gradually being replaced by diets that are high in fat, saturated fat and sugars, but low in fiber. Such changing patterns of food consumption are always associated with epidemiological transitions. For example, the prevalence of infectious and nutrient-deficiency diseases has declined gradually, while the risk of being affected by overweight and obesity and incidences of non-communicable diseases have increased significantly. A number of studies have found that food consumption is significantly associated with human health, particularly overweight and obesity, child growth status, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, many issues are still unexplored. For instance, what is the mechanism between food consumption and human health? How does food consumption interact with social and economic risk factors? Does the association between food consumption and health differ across heterogeneous cohorts? As such, multidisciplinary approaches need to be established to investigate the potential mechanisms between food consumption and human health, and comprehensive studies are required to address the impact of food quantity, dietary structure, meal location (e.g., food away from home or online food delivery) and preparation method on major diseases. Papers addressing these topics are invited for this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Xu Tian
Dr. Hui Wang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • food consumption
  • dietary pattern
  • overweight
  • obesity
  • non-communicable diseases
  • developing countries
  • interaction
  • mechanism

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 945 KiB  
Article
Nutritional Analysis of the Spanish Population: A New Approach Using Public Data on Consumption
by Isabel Cerrillo, Pablo Saralegui-Díez, Rubén Morilla-Romero-de-la-Osa, Manuel González de Molina and Gloria I. Guzmán
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1642; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021642 - 16 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3438
Abstract
Official population consumption data are frequently used to characterize the diet of countries; however, this information may not always be representative of reality. This study analyses the food consumption of the Spanish population by reconstructing the whole food chain. The results have been [...] Read more.
Official population consumption data are frequently used to characterize the diet of countries; however, this information may not always be representative of reality. This study analyses the food consumption of the Spanish population by reconstructing the whole food chain. The results have been compared with the data provided by the National Consumption Panel to which the food losses/waste reported in the literature along the distribution chain have been added. The difference between them allowed a new calculation of the estimated food consumption that was subjected to a dietary-nutritional analysis. Most of the foods were consumed more than those officially reported (range of 5–50%). The unhealthy ratios of consumed foods and recommended servings were: meat products (Rcr = 3.6), fruits and legumes (Rcr = 0.5), and nuts (Rcr = 0.14). Caloric intake surpasses needs. The results were consistent with the data on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Spain, as well as with the prevalence of associated diseases. To make a judgment about the quality of a country’s diet, it is necessary to have reliable data on food consumption, as well as energy and nutrient intake. This study encourages other authors to implement this method to verify and quantify the possible difference between official and real consumption data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Consumption and Human Health)
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13 pages, 642 KiB  
Article
Diet Composition, Anthropometrics, and Mortality Risk
by Nir Y. Krakauer and Jesse C. Krakauer
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12885; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912885 - 8 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2243
Abstract
While overeating is considered a cause of the obesity epidemic as quantified by body mass index (BMI), the association of diet with a body shape index (ABSI) and hip index (HI), which are transformations of waist and hip circumference that are independent of [...] Read more.
While overeating is considered a cause of the obesity epidemic as quantified by body mass index (BMI), the association of diet with a body shape index (ABSI) and hip index (HI), which are transformations of waist and hip circumference that are independent of BMI and which predict mortality risk, is poorly known. We used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study of about 15,000 middle-aged adults to investigate associations between macronutrient intake (energy, carbohydrate, protein, and fat, the latter two divided into plant and animal sources, all based on self-reported food frequency) with anthropometric indices (BMI, ABSI, and HI). We also analyzed the association of diet and anthropometrics with death rate during approximately 30 years of follow-up. High intake of energy and animal fat and protein was generally associated with higher ABSI and lower HI at baseline, as well as greater mortality hazard. BMI was also positively linked with animal fat and protein intake. In contrast, higher intake of carbohydrates and plant fat and protein was associated with lower ABSI and BMI, higher HI, and lower mortality hazard. For example, after adjustment for potential confounders, each standard deviation of additional plant fat intake (as a fraction of total energy) was associated with a 5% decrease in mortality rate, while animal fat intake was associated with a 5% mortality increase per standard deviation. The directions of the associations between diet and anthropometrics are consistent with those found between anthropometrics and mortality without reference to diet. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Consumption and Human Health)
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Review

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14 pages, 689 KiB  
Review
Challenges to Promote Sustainability in Urban Agriculture Models: A Review
by Luiza Vigne Bennedetti, Paulo Antônio de Almeida Sinisgalli, Maurício Lamano Ferreira and Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(3), 2110; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032110 - 24 Jan 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5724
Abstract
Urban agriculture (UA) can be used as an action to promote sustainability in cities and inform public health policies for urban populations. Despite this growing recognition, its implementation still presents challenges in countries in the Global North and Global South. Background: In this [...] Read more.
Urban agriculture (UA) can be used as an action to promote sustainability in cities and inform public health policies for urban populations. Despite this growing recognition, its implementation still presents challenges in countries in the Global North and Global South. Background: In this context, this systematic review aims to identify the development of frameworks for the implementation of UA as a sustainable action and its main opportunities and shortcomings in meeting urban socio-environmental demands. Methods: In this review, using the PRISMA protocol, we evaluated 26 studies on the interplay between UA and sustainability surveyed on the Web of Science to provide an overview of the state of the art. Conclusions: In summary, it was possible to identify many key challenges in UA adoption, which regard air and soil contamination, availability of green areas, layout of urban infrastructure, food distribution, among others. Due to numerous socio-economic and environmental contextual factors in cities, especially when comparing realities of the Global North and Global South, there is a need to develop a model that can be adaptable to these different contexts. Thus, it is recognized that the concept of sustainability does not present a universal understanding and that in its search it could be argued that one of the most important gaps is still to address social issues in relation to environmental ones. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Consumption and Human Health)
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11 pages, 418 KiB  
Review
Women’s Empowerment, Food Security, and Nutrition Transition in Africa
by Mosses Lufuke, Yunli Bai, Shenggen Fan and Xu Tian
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010254 - 24 Dec 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4103
Abstract
Despite mounting recognition of the essential role of women’s empowerment in household dietary and nutrition changes, the diversity of culture across African countries presents ambiguity as to whether its impact is experienced homogeneously across the continent. This article presents a systematic review of [...] Read more.
Despite mounting recognition of the essential role of women’s empowerment in household dietary and nutrition changes, the diversity of culture across African countries presents ambiguity as to whether its impact is experienced homogeneously across the continent. This article presents a systematic review of whether women’s empowerment changes household dietary patterns, contributes to nutrition improvement, and consequently affects diet-related health outcomes in Africa. We find that whilst more research needs to be conducted, particularly with improved methodologies that can establish cause–effect relationships, there is consensus among the literature on the link between women’s empowerment and some domains of food security and dietary improvement. Meanwhile, studies on women’s empowerment and the additional demand pressure on some food categories are quite limited. This exacerbates the challenge of setting production plans that aim to address the continent’s question of food. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Consumption and Human Health)
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