Diet-related greenhouse gas emissions assessed by a food frequency questionnaire and validated using 7-day weighed food records

Feb 11, 2016Environmental health : a global access science source

Estimating diet-related greenhouse gas emissions using a food survey and 7-day detailed food records

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Abstract

The mean greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) from diet assessed with Meal-Q was 3.76 kg CO2e per day per person.

GHGE from diet assessed with a 7-day weighed food record (WFR) was 5.04 kg CO2e per day per person.
The Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients between Meal-Q and WFR were 0.68 and 0.70, indicating strong correlation.
Meal-Q classified 90% of participants into the same or adjacent quartile of daily average CO2e compared to WFR.
The Bland-Altman plot indicated an acceptable level of agreement between Meal-Q and WFR assessments.
Meal-Q demonstrated high reproducibility in assessing diet-related GHGE.

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BACKGROUND: The current food system generates about 25 % of total greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), including deforestation, and thereby substantially contributes to the warming of the earth's surface. To understand the association between food and nutrient intake and GHGE, we therefore need valid methods to assess diet-related GHGE in observational studies.

METHODS: Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies assess the environmental impact of different food items. We linked LCA data expressed as kg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) per kg food product to data on food intake assessed by the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) Meal-Q and validated it against a 7-day weighed food record (WFR). 166 male and female volunteers aged 20-63 years completed Meal-Q and the WFR, and their food intake was linked to LCA data.

RESULTS: The mean GHGE assessed with Meal-Q was 3.76 kg CO2e per day and person, whereas it was 5.04 kg CO2e using the WFR. The energy-adjusted and deattenuated Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were 0.68 and 0.70, respectively. Moreover, compared to the WFR, Meal-Q provided a good ranking ability, with 90 % of the participants classified into the same or adjacent quartile according to their daily average CO2e. The Bland-Altman plot showed an acceptable level of agreement between the two methods and the reproducibility of Meal-Q was high.

CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study validating the assessment of diet-related GHGE by a questionnaire. The results suggest that Meal-Q is a useful tool for studying the link between food habits and CO2e in future epidemiological studies.

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Diet-related greenhouse gas emissions assessed by a food frequency questionnaire and validated using 7-day weighed food records

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