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How to meet nutritional recommendations and reduce diet environmental impact in the Mediterranean region? An optimization study to identify more sustainable diets in Tunisia

Perignon M., Sinfort C., El Ati J., Traissac P., Drogué S., Darmon N., Amiot M.J., Achir N., Alouane L., Bellagha S., Bosc P.M., Broin M., Darmon N., Dhuique-Mayer C., Dop M.C., Drogué S., Dury S., Ferchoui A., Gaillard C., et al.. 2019. Global Food Security, 23 : p. 227-235.

DOI: 10.1016/j.gfs.2019.07.006

Tunisia is a typical country of the Mediterranean region where high prevalence of overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases co-exist with some micronutrient deficiencies, and diet-related environmental issues must be addressed. Individual food choices may influence both health and environment. The aim of this study was to identify diets that are nutritionally adequate, culturally acceptable, and with low environmental impact for Tunisian adults. Individual dietary data from a national Tunisian survey on food consumption (n¿=¿7209, 35–70 years) and the national food composition table were used to estimate the food and nutritional content of the mean observed (OBS) diet. The diet environmental impact was assessed through seven metrics: water deprivation, land-use, land-use potential impacts on biodiversity loss, erosion resistance, mechanical filtration, groundwater replenishment, and biotic production. Quadratic optimization models were implemented to obtain diets that met the nutritional recommendations, and concomitantly respected increasingly stringent environmental constraints and minimized the departure from the OBS diet. Without environmental constraints, the nutritional recommendations were met by increasing the amount of dairy, starch and vegetables, and decreasing foods high in fat/salt/sugar (HFSS) and added fat. Compared with the OBS diet, the environmental impact of this diet increased: +32% for water deprivation and +46–48% for land use and its impacts. When a moderate environmental impact reduction (=30%) was added to the nutritional constraints, the dietary changes at the food group level were similar to those required to reach nutritional adequacy, except for a progressive decrease in meat/fish/egg quantities. Animal-based product contributions to the total energy and protein content were close or slightly lower than in OBS diet, but a redistribution of sources was required: less meat in favor of dairy, egg and fish products. Stronger reductio

Mots-clés : nutrition; régime alimentaire équilibré; agriculture durable; gestion foncière durable; conservation de l'eau; analyse multivariée; tunisie; région méditerranéenne

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