Table 1.
Example of a sustainable healthy diet for a six-year-old child with an average caloric requirement of 1,500 kcal/day
USDA United States Department of Agriculture, SAFA Saturated fatty acids, MUFAs Monounsaturated fatty acids, PUFAs Polyunsaturated fatty acids, PHDI Planetary Health Diet Index, PHDI-C, Planetary Health Diet Index for children and adolescents, ReV ratio, Red and orange vegetables ratio, DGV ratio Dark green vegetables ratio, WC ratio Whole cereals ratio
a Each food item is color-coded with its corresponding index component
b Food items’ nutritional composition was obtained from the USDA National Nutrient Database [33]
c The caloric requirement of 1,500 kcal/day corresponds to the average caloric requirement of a 21.7 kg boy aged 6 years and a 20.6 kg girl aged 6 years whose level of physical activity is moderate to high [37]. Macronutrient requirements were calculated based on acceptable macronutrient distribution ranges [38]. Micronutrient requirements were defined based on Recommended Dietary Allowances or Average Intakes for children aged 4–8-year-old [38, 40]
d Components and scores correspond to the PHDI developed and validated by Cacau et al. [19]. Each component is associated to a recommended range of total caloric intake expressed as percentage of total calories, except for the ratio components which are expressed as percentage of total calories from vegetables. All components can score between 0 to 10 points, except for the ratio components which can score between 0 to 5 points, resulting in a total score of 150 points [19]
e Components and scores correspond to the PHDI-C proposed in this study. Each component is associated to a recommended range of total caloric intake expressed as percentage of total calories, except for the DGV ratio and ReV ratio components which are expressed as percentage of total calories from vegetables, and the WC ratio which is expressed as percentage of total calories from cereals. All components can score between 0 to 10 points, except for the DGV and ReV ratio components which can score between 0 to 5 points, resulting in a total score of 150 points. The formula to calculate the score for each component is provided in Table 2