Sustainability of Diets in Mexico: Diet Quality, Environmental Footprint, Diet Cost, and Sociodemographic Factors

Katherine Curi-Quinto; Mishel Unar-Munguía; Sonia Rodríguez-Ramírez; Juan A Rivera; Jessica Fanzo; Walter Willett; Elin Röös

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.855793

Sustainability of Diets in Mexico: Diet Quality, Environmental Footprint, Diet Cost, and Sociodemographic Factors

Front Nutr. 2022 May 27:9:855793. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.855793. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Katherine Curi-Quinto¹, Mishel Unar-Munguía¹, Sonia Rodríguez-Ramírez¹, Juan A Rivera², Jessica Fanzo³, Walter Willett⁴, Elin Röös⁵

Affiliations

¹ Center for Research on Nutrition and Health, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
² National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
³ Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
⁴ Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.
⁵ Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the current intake of sustainable diets globally and specifically in middle-income countries, considering nutritional, environmental and economic factors.

Objective: To assess and characterize the sustainability of Mexican diets and their association with sociodemographic factors.

Design: Dietary data of 2,438 adults within the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2012 by integrating diet quality measured by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015), diet cost, and four environmental indicators were analyzed: land use (LU), biodiversity loss (BDL), carbon footprint (CFP), and blue water footprint (BWFP). We defined healthier more sustainable diets (MSD) as those with HEI-2015 above the overall median, and diet cost and environmental indicators below the median. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of sociodemographic factors with MSD.

Results: MSD were consumed by 10.2% of adults (4% of urban and 22% of rural), who had lower intake of animal-source foods, unhealthy foods (refined grains, added sugar and fats, mixed processed dishes and sweetened beverages), fruits, and vegetables, and higher intake of whole grains than non-MSD subjects. Characteristics of MSD vs. non-MSD (urban; rural) were: HEI-2015 (62.6 vs. 51.9; 66.8 vs. 57.6), diet-cost (1.9 vs. 2.8; 1.9 vs. 2.5 USD), LU (3.3 vs. 6.6; 3.2 vs. 5.9 m²), BDL (105 vs. 780; 87 vs. 586 species × 10^-10), BWFP (244 vs. 403; 244 vs. 391 L), and CFP (1.6 vs. 4.4; 1.6 vs. 3.7 kg CO₂eq). Adults from rural vs. urban (OR 2.7; 95% CI: 1.7, 4.1), or from the South (OR 2.1; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.9), Center (OR 2.3; 95% CI: 1.3, 4.4) vs. the North were more likely to consume MSD, while adults with high vs. low socioeconomic status were less likely (OR 0.17; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.3).

Conclusions: The MSD is a realistic diet pattern mainly found in disadvantaged populations, but diet quality is still sub-optimal. Increased consumption of legumes, fruits, and vegetables, and a reduction in unhealthy foods, is required to improve nutritional quality of diets while ensuring their environmental sustainability.

Keywords: Mexico; carbon footprint; diet cost; environmental footprint; land use; sustainable diet; water footprint.