• Researchers find direct links between de

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Wed Mar 16 22:30:44 2022
    Researchers find direct links between deforestation and reduced dietary quality

    Date:
    March 16, 2022
    Source:
    Penn State
    Summary:
    Current policies for guaranteeing food security emphasize
    the importance of farmland, but forests play critical roles as
    well. Forested areas can help communities that rely on wild foods to
    diversify their diets and meet their nutritional needs, according
    to researchers who found direct links between deforestation and
    reduced fruit and vegetable consumption in rural Tanzania.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Current policies for guaranteeing food security emphasize the importance
    of farmland, but forests play critical roles as well. Forested areas can
    help communities that rely on wild foods to diversify their diets and
    meet their nutritional needs, according to researchers who found direct
    links between deforestation and reduced fruit and vegetable consumption
    in rural Tanzania.


    ==========================================================================
    "In recent years, a growing body of literature has shown strong positive connections between forests and food security in low- and middle-income countries," said Charlotte Hall, postdoctoral fellow at the University
    of Copenhagen, Denmark, and lead author of the paper. "Our study is the
    first of its kind to find a causal relationship between deforestation and
    a reduction in people's dietary quality." The researchers studied the
    food consumption of 1,256 households in rural Tanzania over a five-year
    period. The data, provided by the World Bank, was georeferenced and
    randomly displaced by up to 3.11 miles for confidentiality purposes,
    giving the researchers an approximate measurement of the households'
    proximity to forested areas. The team used satellite imagery and
    geospatial datasets to measure forest cover over the study period.

    Powell has spent her career working alongside and adjacent to people who
    think about how agricultural systems can support diet quality and food security. She noted that previous studies have tried to generate numbers
    in terms of the impact of crop diversity or an agricultural intervention
    on diet.

    "The magnitude of impact that we see from agriculture on diet is
    less than what we see in this study," said Powell. "So, this research
    really should push people to think beyond the field when trying to help
    rural communities improve food security in places where wild foods are important." The majority of policies aimed at improving food security in
    low- to middle- income countries tend to promote increased agricultural production, particularly the production of staple crops, which often
    comes at the expense of forests, said Hall. The results of the current
    study point toward an alternative approach to improving food security
    in these countries.



    ========================================================================== "While increased agricultural production will undoubtedly be important
    for meeting the food needs of a growing population, policy makers should
    give more consideration to the role of forests," Hall said. "This is particularly important given that micronutrient deficiencies affect
    far more people than undernourishment, and our study has shown that deforestation directly reduces people's ability to source fruits
    and vegetables that are rich in important nutrients such as vitamin
    A. Ultimately, we recommend the preservation of forests, which may offer win-wins in terms of meeting both nutrition and environmental goals."
    Laura Vang Rasmussen and Rasmus Skov Olesen, University of Copenhagen;
    Cecilie Dyngeland, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences; and
    Suhyun Jung, West Virginia University, also contributed to the study. The European Research Council funded this research.

    Wild food is central to the diet of rural people in Tanzania, and the
    country has seen significant environmental change and deforestation in the
    last two decades, said Bronwen Powell, assistant professor of geography, African studies and anthropology at Penn State and study co-author. Powell
    has conducted nutritional research in Tanzania for more than a decade,
    and her doctoral work helped to lay the groundwork for the current study.

    "The results of the study are startling," Powell said. "We have this very
    clear signal in the data about fruit and vegetable consumption. Also,
    we have a strong understanding that fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with health outcomes. Low consumption of these foods is one
    of the leading causes of mortality globally. It's right up there with
    risk factors like alcohol consumption and unsafe sex. If we can link deforestation to fruit and vegetable consumption, it's very concerning."
    The team saw the largest decline in the daily intake of leafy green
    vegetables, mangoes and other fruit -- produce most often foraged from
    the forest or grown on trees. These foods are high in vitamin A, an
    essential micronutrient.



    ==========================================================================
    "We focused on three key micronutrients in our study -- iron, zinc and
    vitamin A -- because these are the most commonly deficient nutrients
    in low- and middle-income countries," said Hall. "We did not find a
    link between forest loss and iron or zinc, but we did find a strong
    link between forest loss and vitamin A." The researchers found that
    household vitamin A adequacy decreased over the study period as a result
    of deforestation. Vitamin A deficiency has severe health outcomes and
    can lead to blindness, weakened immune function and respiratory tract infections, Powell said.

    Wild food is central to the diet of rural people in Tanzania, and the
    country has seen significant environmental change and deforestation in the
    last two decades, said Bronwen Powell, assistant professor of geography, African studies and anthropology at Penn State and study co-author. Powell
    has conducted nutritional research in Tanzania for more than a decade,
    and her doctoral work helped to lay the groundwork for the current study.

    "The results of the study are startling," Powell said. "We have this very
    clear signal in the data about fruit and vegetable consumption. Also,
    we have a strong understanding that fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with health outcomes. Low consumption of these foods is one
    of the leading causes of mortality globally. It's right up there with
    risk factors like alcohol consumption and unsafe sex. If we can link deforestation to fruit and vegetable consumption, it's very concerning."
    The team saw the largest decline in the daily intake of leafy green
    vegetables, mangoes and other fruit -- produce most often foraged from
    the forest or grown on trees. These foods are high in vitamin A, an
    essential micronutrient.

    "We focused on three key micronutrients in our study -- iron, zinc and
    vitamin A -- because these are the most commonly deficient nutrients
    in low- and middle-income countries," said Hall. "We did not find a
    link between forest loss and iron or zinc, but we did find a strong
    link between forest loss and vitamin A." The researchers found that
    household vitamin A adequacy decreased over the study period as a result
    of deforestation. Vitamin A deficiency has severe health outcomes and
    can lead to blindness, weakened immune function and respiratory tract infections, Powell said.

    The scientists found that as forest cover decreased, so did reported
    fruit and vegetable consumption. Forest cover shrank by an average of approximately 423 acres over the five-year period. Fruit and vegetable consumption decreased by 14 grams, or half an ounce, per person per day, representing an 11% reduction in the amount eaten daily.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Penn_State. Original written by
    Francisco Tutella. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Charlotte M. Hall, Laura Vang Rasmussen, Bronwen Powell, Cecilie
    Dyngeland, Suhyun Jung, Rasmus Skov Olesen. Deforestation reduces
    fruit and vegetable consumption in rural Tanzania. Proceedings
    of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022; 119 (10) DOI:
    10.1073/pnas.2112063119 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220316173254.htm

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