Summary
This analysis quantifies current global adherence to the Planetary Health Diet—a reference dietary pattern designed to balance human health and environmental sustainability—and projects mortality gains from dietary shifts. Using data from three large US cohorts (206,404 participants, 54,536 deaths), the authors estimate that improving global mean PHDI from the current 85 to 120 could prevent approximately 15 million deaths annually (27% of total mortality), with the largest gains in cardiovascular disease prevention (2.5 million deaths). The findings suggest that alignment with sustainable dietary guidelines would deliver substantial direct health benefits across multiple disease classes.
UK applicability
The study's US cohort data may not directly represent UK population health patterns or dietary baseline adherence, though the Planetary Health Diet framework and prevention estimates could inform UK nutrition policy and public health strategies. UK-specific epidemiological data would be needed to refine mortality prevention estimates for the British population.
Key measures
Planetary Health Dietary Index (PHDI, scale 0–140); national and global mean PHDI; total and cause-specific preventable mortality (deaths per year); mortality risk reduction by disease category
Outcomes reported
The study quantified global and national adherence to the Planetary Health Diet using the Planetary Health Dietary Index (PHDI), and estimated preventable deaths from all causes and specific disease categories if global dietary patterns shifted towards the reference diet.
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