Integrative analysis of dietary water footprint and dietary quality – Towards the practical application of sustainable nutrition

The contribution of food production to the environmental burden is considerable, therefore, numerous countries have been trying to create a sustainable food supply chain to ensure food and nutrition security. The scope of this study was to analyse the association between water footprint and healthiness based on dietary records. Furthermore, it was aimed to create a classification of integrative dietary indicators of sustainable nutrition. With these methodological aims, the dietary records of 25 healthy adults were assessed. The dietary quality scores and dietary water footprint were calculated and Spearman's rank correlation was tested between them. The indicator nutrients were classified based on their advantageous or disadvantageous health impact and association with water footprint. There was a significant positive correlation between the meat consumption and water footprint, while significant negative correlations were found between the dietary quality score and water footprint and dietary quality score and meat consumption (P < 0.05). Protein, energy, sodium, and saturated fatty acids as integrated indicator nutrients could be identified for both dietary quality and water footprint. The improvement in dietary quality could simultaneously decrease the dietary water footprint. The integration of environmental impact into the analysis of diets could be the future direction in the counseling practice of nutritionists.

The relationship between the motivators and barriers of health behaviour and consumer attitudes towards functional food

Due to the shift in consumer behaviour, the proportion of well informed, conscious consumers has been growing steadily, and functional foods with their capacity to protect health have been gaining more and more ground. To achieve market success in the field of functional foods, producers should be able to communicate information effectively concerning health issues and their newly developed product should indeed meet consumer expectations. The aim of our study was to identify and define the components of the dimensions of consumer attitudes in Hungary together with the barriers and motivators of health behaviour. Our research also examined how these factors influence consumer willingness to consume functional foods. Our surveys were carried out in focus groups of health-conscious (n=8) and not health-conscious (n=8) consumers. Our findings confirmed the adequacy of the international dual model, regarding the attitudes of Hungarian consumers towards functional food. Moreover, we also explored the most popular health food categories and sources of information on nutrition.