Abstract
Background: Our current rapidly growing food systems are imposing a heavy burden on both environmental sustainability and human health. Sustainable and healthy diets aim to promote optimal health and have a minimal environmental impact. This study aimed to critically review and synthesise the evidence on the effectiveness of web-based nutrition education interventions aiming to promote sustainable and healthy diets among young adults. Methods: A systematic search of four databases (Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Embase) was conducted in March 2021. Studies were included if they used an online platform to deliver the intervention to young adults and measured at least one aspect of sustainable and healthy diets, such as plant-based food intake, food waste, and local and seasonal produce. Of the 2991 studies, a total of 221 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility of which 22 were included in the final review. Results: A majority of the studies (82%) targeted fruit and vegetable consumption, and close to a quarter of studies (23%) targeted other aspects of a sustainable and healthy diet, such as red meat intake. Only one study included multiple aspects of a sustainable and healthy diet. Program delivery outcomes reported overall positive feedback and engagement. Conclusion: This review suggests that web-based interventions may be effective in promoting some sustainable diet-related outcomes in young adults. However, there is a need for developing and evaluating future programs to promote sustainable diets more comprehensively in order to help young adults make healthy and sustainable food choices.
Highlights
The rapidly growing food systems are currently imposing a heavy burden on both environmental sustainability and human health [1,2]
This review found only one study of moderate quality that targeted the majority of measurable outcomes of sustainable diet, including an increase in local and seasonal produce, reduction in food waste, and an increase in plant-based food intake [36]
30–45 min [23,32], some others over one to seven weeks [12,19,20,21,27,29,35,36], or two to six months [11,13,22,24,25,26,28,30,33,34,37]. Because of this large variation in interventions, delivery length, and follow up, it was challenging to provide conclusive evidence regarding the duration and intensity of effective interventions in promoting sustainable dietary behaviours. This systematic literature review showed that there is potential for webbased nutrition interventions to promote sustainable and healthy diets among young adults
Summary
The rapidly growing food systems are currently imposing a heavy burden on both environmental sustainability and human health [1,2]. A few years ago, the EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems stated that there is a need to alter our current unhealthy and unsustainable diets to improve health and minimize the environmental impact [1]. This study aimed to critically review and synthesise the evidence on the effectiveness of web-based nutrition education interventions aiming to promote sustainable and healthy diets among young adults. Studies were included if they used an online platform to deliver the intervention to young adults and measured at least one aspect of sustainable and healthy diets, such as plant-based food intake, food waste, and local and seasonal produce. Conclusion: This review suggests that web-based interventions may be effective in promoting some sustainable diet-related outcomes in young adults. There is a need for developing and evaluating future programs to promote sustainable diets more comprehensively in order to help young adults make healthy and sustainable food choices
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