Human diets and their associated environmental impacts differ across segments of the population. There is evidence that consumer choices of food intake can also affect the overall environmental impacts of a food system. This paper analyzes the environmental impact of diets and food choices across a rural–urban transect in Northern Vietnam by using mixed survey data from 619 adult respondents. The average greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) resulting from producing the daily food intake of adults in the urban and peri-urban districts were similar, while the average in the rural district was lower. Although starchy staples contributed the most to energy intake, pork and beef were the largest contributors to GHGE. Metrics of blue water use were higher for diets of males than those of females in all three districts. Interestingly, the difference in mean diet diversity score between urban and rural households was significant, and females’ diets were more diverse than those of males. As expected, urban households were more likely to buy food, while rural households often produced their own foods. Urban households reported prioritizing personal health and the natural content of food and would increase seafood and fruits if their income were to increase. In rural regions, interventions aimed at reducing undernutrition should address improving diet quality without significant increases to diet-related environmental impacts.

Objectives: To examine associations of household crop diversity with school-aged child dietary diversity in Vietnam and Ethiopia and mechanisms underlying these associations.Design: We created a child diet diversity score (DDS) using data on seven food groups consumed in the last 24 h. Generalised estimating equations were used to model associations of household-level crop diversity, measured as a count of crop species richness (CSR) and of plant crop nutritional functional richness (CNFR), with DDS. We examined effect modification by household wealth and subsistence orientation, and mediation by the farm’s market orientation.Setting: Two survey years of longitudinal data from the Young Lives cohort.Participants: Children (aged 5 years in 2006 and 8 years in 2009) from rural farming households in Ethiopia (n 1012) and Vietnam (n 1083).Results: There was a small, positive association between household CNFR and DDS in Ethiopia (CNFR–DDS, β = 0·13; (95 % CI 0·07, 0·19)), but not in Vietnam. Associations of crop diversity and child diet diversity were strongest among poor households in Ethiopia and among subsistence-oriented households in Vietnam. Agricultural earnings positively mediated the crop diversity–diet diversity association in Ethiopia.Discussion: Children from households that are poorer and those that rely more on their own agricultural production for food may benefit most from increased crop diversity.

Background/Objectives: Historically racialized status (HRS) and low socioeconomic position (SEP) are independent risk factors for food insecurity and poor academic achievement among college students. Despite increased enrollment of students from historically racialized groups and low SEP, little is known regarding the intersectional experience of these contemporary student characteristics with food security status or academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine the intersections of racialized status and SEP with food insecurity and academic achievement among undergraduate students attending a public university system in California. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1170 undergraduates who utilized their campus food pantry between June and August 2019 at nine University of California campuses. Racialized status and SEP were used to construct four distinct intersectional positions: (1) White, not low SEP (i.e., traditional students; reference), and three contemporary student groups: (2) White, low SEP; (3) HRS, not low SEP; and (4) HRS, low SEP. Using regression analyses, these intersectional positions were examined with food insecurity and grade point average (GPA), while controlling for other student characteristics. Results: HRS, low SEP students had significantly higher odds of experiencing food insecurity (OR = 2.72; 95% CI: 1.52–4.97) and lower GPA (B = −0.14, p = 0.05) than traditional students, after adjustment. Conclusions: Contemporary students are at increased risk of food insecurity and lower academic achievement compared to traditional students.

COVID-19 disrupted food access, potentially increasing nutritional risk and health inequities. This study aimed to describe and assess associations between changes in food/meal acquisition behaviors and relative changes in dietary intake and bodyweight from before to during the pandemic. Low-income parents (n = 1090) reported these changes by online survey in April–August 2021. Associations were assessed by multinomial logistic regression. Compared to those with no change, those who decreased supermarket shopping had greater odds of decreased fruit and vegetable (FV; OR[95%CI] = 2.4[1.4–4.1]) and increased salty snack intakes (OR[95%CI] = 1.7[1.0–2.8]). Those who decreased farmer’s market shopping had greater odds of decreased FV intake (OR[95%CI] = 1.8[1.0–3.1]), increased bodyweight (OR[95%CI] = 1.7[1.1–2.6]), and increased SSB (OR[95%CI] = 1.9[1.1–3.2]) and sweets intakes (OR[95%CI] = 1.8[1.1–2.9]). Those who increased online food ordering had greater odds of increased sweets (OR[95%CI] = 1.7[1.1–2.8]), salty snacks (OR[95%CI] = 1.9[1.2–3.2]), and fast food (OR[95%CI] = 2.0[1.2–3.5]) intakes and bodyweight (OR[95%CI] = 1.8[1.1–2.9]). Those who increased healthy meal preparation had greater odds of increased FV intake (OR[95%CI] = 4.0[2.5–6.5]), decreased SSB (OR[95%CI] = 3.7[2.3–6.0]), sweets (OR[95%CI] = 2.7[1.6–4.4]), salty snacks (OR[95%CI] = 3.0[1.8–5]) and fast food intakes (OR[95%CI] = 2.8[1.7–4.6]) and bodyweight (OR[95%CI] = 2.2[1.2–4.0]). Interventions to address the potentially negative impacts of online food/meal shopping and support healthy home cooking may be needed to improve nutrition-related outcomes and reduce health disparities in the aftermath of the current pandemic and during future emergencies requiring similar restrictions.