Dietary Transition Determining the Tradeoff Between Global Food Security and Sustainable Development Goals Varied in Regions

Abstract

Abstract Global food security is directly linked to human health and sustainable development. It is critical to comprehensively twig future changes in global food demand and progress in implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), considering the transition of dietary patterns. We presented a global‐scale analysis quantifying the status of national food consumption and SDG performance in 2017, and the food demands and SDG index scores in 2030 were predicted under three healthy dietary patterns using 11 SDG indicators. High‐income nations scored well on most SDG indicators but poorly on food waste and the environment. Total global food demand was projected to be the highest under the national dietary guidelines pattern (12.69–13.37 million ton/d) and the lowest under the WHO healthy diet pattern (10.55–11.18 million ton/d). However, food demand under different dietary patterns varied among regions. Transitioning from current diets to healthy diets was projected to gain SDG index score for most countries. Strategies for shifts in dietary patterns to determine the tradeoff between global food security and sustainable development should be tailored to local conditions. The EAT‐Lancet dietary pattern is an optimal choice for determining the tradeoff between food security and sustainable development on a global scale. Given the current status of food access and nutrition, the National and the WHO dietary patterns are recommended for Asia and Africa, respectively.

Keywords

• food security
• SDGs
• dietary transition
• tradeoff