11.D. Round table: Anti-inflammatory vs. sustainable dietary patterns throughout the life course
Authors:   Organised by: Institute of Primary Health Care, University of Bern (Switzerland),   Chair persons: Patricia Chocano-Bedoya (Switzerland), Christina Dahm (Denmark)
Published: October 2023

Diet is well known to affect the risk of several chronic diseases throughout the life course, potentially through modulation of the inflammatory response. Chronic inflammation, which increases with age, may contribute to the development of various chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. In parallel, the environmental impact of diet varies substantially depending on the choice of food products and the underlying production systems. Adopting sustainable diets produces co-benefits for population health, but also for the environment by limiting greenhouse gas emissions and land use. However, these patterns may be deficient in micronutrients, and are not consistently associated with lower risk of chronic conditions throughout the life course. In particular, among children and adolescents, nutritionally adequate and appealing sustainable diets are important to promote healthy growth and to develop sustainable dietary habits. Therefore, we developed this workshop with the aim to explore the overlap and synergies between sustainable and anti-inflammatory diets at different stages in life. As dietary patterns provide a more complete overview of usual diet intake, in this panel we will (1) briefly present different methods that can be used to estimate dietary patterns and as an example, we will present previous results from inflammatory dietary patterns and their association with cognitive decline. Regarding adherence to sustainable diets, we will present results from (2) studies in adults (Danish Diet, Cancer and Health study) and their association to stroke, type 2 diabetes and overall mortality and (3) studies in children (‘Children of the 90s’ ALSPAC cohort) regarding their growth curves. Regarding challenges in policy implementation, we will present (4) an example of a co-creation strategy with students and chefs to develop innovative and healthy plant-based foods for school canteens. In the discussion part of the round table, we will focus on how to combine anti-inflammatory and sustainable diets to promote health across the life course and the potential strategies for policy implementation of these dietary patterns. The objectives of this workshop are (1) to discuss within a multidisciplinary set of experts the potential synergies between two very popular “healthy” dietary patterns and (2) to evaluate what are the main challenges of implementing dietary strategies based on these diets in different generations: among children who could potentially not have their needs fulfilled and among adolescents who might not accept such dietary changes, plus potential strategies for middle-aged and older adults. The added value is to bring domain experts together in a discussion space, where new knowledge can be generated, research gaps in this field can be highlighted and future interdisciplinary collaborations be fostered.

Key messages

• Some dietary factors might have an impact on chronic conditions through inflammatory pathways. Yet the overlap and synergies between sustainable and anti-inflammatory patterns is still not explored.

• Sustainable diets may produce health benefits throughout the life course. Implementation strategies can be challenging, however innovative strategies in schools may be successful.

Speakers/Panelists

Patricia Chocano-Bedoya

Institute of Primary Health Care, Bern, Switzerland

Christina Dahm

Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Jessica Laine Carmeli

Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Margarita Kokkorou

European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy