In France, the evolution of dietary pattern relative to sustainability and global health remains insufficiently studied. The objective of this study was to assess dietary changes during 1998-2015 through three generic metrics potentially related to sustainability. Food consumption data were collected from three French National Individual Study of Food Consumption surveys (INCA) for children (0-17 years) and adults (18-79 years) representative of the French population. The consumed foods were converted into plant (metric 1) and non-ultra-processed (UPF, metric 2) calories, and analyzed in meeting dietary recommended intakes (metric 3). French children and adults consumed high levels of animal and UPF calories, and nutrient deficiencies were observed in adults from the 2015 survey, e.g., fiber, EPA, DHA, magnesium, retinol, and vitamin C. In children, UPF daily calories increased from 42.8 to 45.5% and decreased in adults from 39.2 to 35.0%. In children and adults, diet revegetation was observed. While the level of physical activity decreased, overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes prevalence increased in French adults. The French dietary pattern is not sustainable for global health unless public health policy is reinforced, with at least a twofold decrease in animal and UPF calories and improved food diversity.

To prevent chronic diseases linked to industrialisation, the ‘matrix’ effect of a food relates more to its action on health than its nutritional composition. It influences notably the kinetics of nutrient release in the digestive tract, the bioavailability of the nutrients and thereby their metabolic effects, as well as a feeling of fullness. It corresponds to a holistic vision of food reflecting that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Aujourd’hui il est usuel de caractériser les aliments par des scores nutritionnels réductionnistes ne prenant en compte que quelques nutriments (généralement ceux à encourager et ceux à limiter), comme par exemple le NutriScore. Or deux aliments de même composition mais avec des matrices ou des degrés de transformation différents n’ont pas le même effet sur la santé. Les calories et nutriments ne sont donc pas interchangeables d’un aliment à l’autre. Il faut donc sortir du paradigme réductionniste ne considérant l’aliment que comme une seule somme de nutriments et développer des index nutritionnels holistiques prenant en compte à la fois composition, degré de transformation et effet « matrice » de l’aliment, voire dans un futur proche également l’impact environnemental de l’aliment.

Food processing impacts both food structure and nutritional density. The effect of food structure on satiety and glycemic potentials is well recognized. However, association between processing, satiety and glycemic potentials and nutrient profiles has not been much studied, especially in the diets of elderly. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring relations between level of food processing and consumption and nutrient profiles, and satiety and glycemic potentials among 6,686 French elderly people (> 65 years). Dietary assessment was realized through a web-based 24-h dietary record tool. Among a total of 2688 foods, 280 generic foods were aggregated based on a consumption threshold of at least 5% by the population. Satiety potential was calculated by using the Fullness Factor equation, and glycemic potential by using the glycemic index and the glucose glycemic equivalent. Foods and dishes were ranked according to adapted international NOVA classification as raw/minimally-processed (G1), processed (G2) and ultra-processed (G3). ANOVA and correlation analyses showed that the more foods are processed the less their satiety potential and nutrient density and the higher their glycemic impact, especially when comparing G1 and G3. Besides, the foods consumed at the highest amount daily tends to be the most satiating, and ultra-processed foods were among the less frequently consumed both in percentage and daily quantity (around two-fold difference between minimally- and ultra-processed foods). In conclusion, because it is partly related to health food potential, degree of processing, especially for ultra-processed products, should be more taken into consideration in evaluating consumption profiles of different populations.

The sustainable development goal #2 aims at ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030. Given the numbers of food insecure and malnourished people on the rise, the heterogeneity of nutritional statuses and needs, and the even worse context of COVID-19 pandemic, this has become an urgent challenge for food-related policies. This paper provides a comprehensive microsimulation approach to evaluate economic policies on food access, sufficiency (energy) and adequacy (protein, fat, carbohydrate) at household level. The improvement in market access conditions in Kenya is simulated as an application case of this method, using original insights from households’ surveys and biochemical and nutritional information by food item. Simulation’s results suggest that improving market access increases food purchasing power overall the country, with a pro-poor impact in rural areas. The daily energy consumption per capita and macronutrients intakes per capita increase at the national level, being the hous...