Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

India has natural resource capacity to achieve nutrition security, reduce health risks and improve environmental sustainability

Kerstin Damerau, Kyle Frankel Davis, Cécile Godde, Mario Herrero, Marco Springmann, Shilpa N Bhupathiraju, Samuel S. Myers, Walter C. Willett

Nature Food · 2020

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Summary

This 2020 multidisciplinary assessment examined whether India's agricultural and natural resource base can support simultaneous achievement of nutritional security, reduced diet-related health risks, and improved environmental sustainability. The work, published in Nature Food by an international team including nutrition and food systems experts, appears to integrate nutritional requirements, epidemiological burden of disease, and environmental impact modelling to evaluate India-specific food system scenarios. The analysis suggests potential for integrated gains across health and environmental domains through strategic agricultural and dietary change.

UK applicability

Whilst focused on India's context and resource base, the methodological framework for evaluating synergies between nutrition security, health outcomes, and environmental sustainability may inform UK food system strategy and policy integration. However, India's agricultural structure, population density, and dietary patterns differ substantially from the UK, limiting direct applicability of specific recommendations.

Key measures

As suggested by the title: nutritional adequacy indicators, health risk metrics (likely diet-related disease burden), and environmental sustainability measures (possibly greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use)

Outcomes reported

The study assessed India's natural resource capacity to simultaneously achieve nutrition security, reduce health risks, and improve environmental sustainability through food system changes. The research likely evaluated trade-offs and synergies between nutritional adequacy, disease burden reduction, and environmental impact across different agricultural and dietary scenarios.

Theme
Nutrition & health
Subject
Food security & global nutrition
Study type
Policy
Study design
Policy report
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
India
System type
Mixed farming
DOI
10.1038/s43016-020-00157-w
Catalogue ID
MGmounvamn-00x1cl

Topic tags

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