Food, Health, and Mitigation of Climate change in Italy

Objective: to provide evidence on how diet can influence health, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and land use. Design: cohort study. Setting and participants: data collected in the EPIC Italy cohort (N. 47,749). Main outcome measures: hazard ratios (HR) for overall mortality and for cancer incidence in association with a sustainable diet (EAT-Lancet). Results: sustainable diets are characterized by lower associated GHG emissions and lower land use (LU). Adherence to the guidelines proposed by the EAT-Lancet Commission was considered. This diet was associated with lower HRs for mortality and cancer incidence in EPIC Italy, estimated with Cox models accounting for potential confounders and stratified by sex. The hazard ratios for overall mortality showed a dose-response relationship with quartiles of diets associated with high GHG emissions, land use, and high distance from the EAT-Lancet diet calculated using a novel index, the EAT-Lancet distance index (EatDI). The HR for overall cancer incidence was also higher in the population with non-sustainable diets. Conclusions: the association among dietary GHG emissions, LU, and EatDI and overall mortality and overall cancer incidence suggests that promoting diets with low associated environmental impact can be an effective mitigation strategy with important co-benefits.

Automated summary

This cohort study provides evidence on the impact of diet on health, greenhouse gas emissions, and land use. The study analyzed data from the EPIC Italy cohort and found that sustainable diets with lower associated emissions and land use were associated with lower mortality and cancer incidence. The results suggest that promoting diets with low environmental impact can have important health benefits.