Developing a novel optimisation approach for keeping heterogeneous diets healthy and within planetary boundaries for climate change

Background and objectives: Current dietary habits adversely affect both human and planetary health. This study aimed to develop a novel approach to achieve health-promoting and climate-friendly dietary recommendations for a broad range of consumers. Subjects and methods: Using nationally representative Swedish dietary data (n = 1797), hierarchical clustering analysis was combined with linear programming to design nutritionally adequate, health-promoting, climate-friendly and culturally acceptable diets. Diets were optimised for the average total population and for identified dietary clusters. Results: Three dietary clusters were identified. All optimised diets had lower shares of animal-source foods and higher amounts of plant-based foods, reducing climate impacts by up to 53% while leaving much of the diet unchanged. The optimised diets of the clusters differed from the optimised diet of the total population, and all optimised diets differed considerably from the EAT-Lancet diet. Conclusions: The cluster-based optimisation approach generated alternatives that may be more acceptable and realistic for sustainable diets across different population groups.

Patricia Eustachio Colombo, Liselotte Schäfer Elinder, Esa-Pekka A. Nykänen, Emma Patterson, Anna Karin Lindroos, Alexandr Parlesak