Environmental and human health trade-offs in potential Chinese dietary shifts

Summary

This 2022 modelling study examines how dietary shifts in China—a major food-consuming nation—could simultaneously affect environmental sustainability and population health outcomes. Using scenario analysis, the authors identified potential synergies and trade-offs between reducing environmental impact and optimising nutritional and disease outcomes. The work contributes evidence for designing food system transitions that balance planetary and human health objectives in a high-impact food system context.

UK applicability

Whilst China-specific in geography and dietary context, the methodological approach to quantifying environment–health trade-offs in dietary transitions may inform similar analyses for the United Kingdom. UK dietary sustainability policies could adopt comparable modelling frameworks to assess whether plant-protein shifts deliver coordinated benefits or reveal policy tensions.

Key measures

Environmental metrics (as suggested by title: greenhouse gas emissions, water use, land use); health metrics (likely nutritional adequacy, disease burden or mortality attributable to diet); trade-offs between environmental and health outcomes

Outcomes reported

The study modelled environmental footprints (likely greenhouse gas emissions, water use, land use) and population health outcomes (nutritional adequacy, diet-related disease burden) across different dietary scenarios for China. It assessed synergies and conflicts between environmental sustainability and human health objectives.

Topic tags