Food, environmental impact, and health
This PhD project conducts research in the field of nutritional and environmental epidemiology, thereby addressing Changing Arctic’s focus areas food security and health.
Changes in food systems are needed both to address diet-related health conditions and to promote an environmentally sustainable future, as the environmental impact of food production is substantial. It is important to note that food production is largely driven by food consumption and dietary habits. Besides concern for health and the environment, dietary choices are influenced by many other factors, such as availability, affordability, personal preferences, social settings, cultural norms, and intrapersonal factors like age, sex, and educational status. Since transformation of the food system is needed from both the supply and demand sides, a deeper understanding of these relationships is crucial.
In the Arctic, where the effects of environmental changes are particularly pronounced, it is especially important to understand how food consumption patterns affect the environment. Additionally, while striving to be environmentally friendly, health aspects should not be neglected. Thus, understanding the relationship between diet, health, and environmental impact is essential. Utilizing data from ongoing population-based cohorts, this project aims to quantify the environmental impact of food consumption in Northern Norway in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, acidifying emissions, eutrophication emissions, water footprint, and land use. With this, it examines the relationships with intrapersonal factors and co-benefits with health, and further identifies dietary shifts that could potentially have the greatest positive impact on both health and the environment.
The project is being conducted with a collaboration with University of Oslo, and the PhD candidate is also affiliated with the research group Systems Epidemiology at UiT- a large interdisciplinary research group addressing various research questions related to lifestyle and health using data from population-based studies.