Abstract
Background: Todays, due to the impact of human food choices on increasing greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and environmental degradation, there is a new approach about changing the pattern of food production and consumption, including sustainable food and nutrition system related to consumption. This study aimed to explore the components of a sustainable diet among the factors that affect people’s food choices.
Methods: This qualitative study was carried out using an in-depth interview with 33 individuals aged 30–64 years old living in different areas of Tehran. Data collection, data analysis and theoretical conceptualization were performed simultaneously. MAXQDA 10 software was used for managing and organizing the data.
Results: In this paper, the findings are categorized according to the key components of a sustainable diet in five themes: “Health and Nutrition”, “Food and Agriculture Security”, “Environment and Ecosystems”, “Markets, food trade and production chains”, “social, cultural, and policy factors” were categorized. Meanwhile, the components of the “Health and Nutrition” domain had the highest contribution and the components of the two domains “food and agriculture” and “environment and ecosystems” had the lowest role based on the participants’ perception in this study.
Conclusion: Considering to the low importance of the components of a sustainable diet in food choices of the community, promoting the individual awareness of sustainable diet components, clarifying the importance of food choices in creating environmental impacts and leading the national macro policies in the field food and nutrition toward sustainable diet goals are essential.
Methods: This qualitative study was carried out using an in-depth interview with 33 individuals aged 30–64 years old living in different areas of Tehran. Data collection, data analysis and theoretical conceptualization were performed simultaneously. MAXQDA 10 software was used for managing and organizing the data.
Results: In this paper, the findings are categorized according to the key components of a sustainable diet in five themes: “Health and Nutrition”, “Food and Agriculture Security”, “Environment and Ecosystems”, “Markets, food trade and production chains”, “social, cultural, and policy factors” were categorized. Meanwhile, the components of the “Health and Nutrition” domain had the highest contribution and the components of the two domains “food and agriculture” and “environment and ecosystems” had the lowest role based on the participants’ perception in this study.
Conclusion: Considering to the low importance of the components of a sustainable diet in food choices of the community, promoting the individual awareness of sustainable diet components, clarifying the importance of food choices in creating environmental impacts and leading the national macro policies in the field food and nutrition toward sustainable diet goals are essential.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 55 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | BMC Nutrition |
| Volume | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.A correction exists for this article and can be found in BMC Nutrition (2023) v9, art 137, at doi:10.1186/s40795-023-00790-1
Keywords
- Sustainable diet
- Food choice
- Qualitative study