Open AccessAdvantages and limitations of the methodological approaches used to study dietary shifts towards improved nutrition and sustainability
Author(s) -
Marlène Périg,
Nicole Darmon
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nutrition reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.958
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1753-4887
pISSN - 0029-6643
DOI - 10.1093/nutrit/nuab091
Subject(s) - sustainability , categorization , identification (biology) , order (exchange) , management science , risk analysis (engineering) , malnutrition , computer science , process management , business , environmental economics , engineering , economics , biology , economic growth , artificial intelligence , ecology , finance
Acting on diet is one of the changes required – in combination with actions on food production, transformation, and waste – to address the challenges of reducing the environmental impact of our food systems and eliminating all forms of malnutrition. The number of studies exploring how to move towards a more sustainable diet has exploded over the past decades, but there is a need to facilitate their understanding and use by policy makers and all other stakeholders possibly influencing diet sustainability. The aim of the present article is to propose a categorization of studies into 4 approaches, based on the type of methodology used to explore diet sustainability, and to highlight the principles, advantages, and limitations of each approach in order to help study users in their interpretation. The 4 approaches are: assessment of sustainability characteristics of hypothetical diets (approach 1) or existing diets (approach 2), identification of existing “positive deviants” (approach 3), and design of more sustainable diets with constrained optimization (approach 4). Specificities and key findings drawn from each approach are described, and challenges for future studies are discussed.