Children’s Diets and Their Sustainability in a Changing World

The last 5 decades have witnessed major reductions in hunger, child mortality, wasting, and stunting, despite the exponential growth of the world population. Technological advances in food production outpaced population growth, and together with socio-economic changes led to increases in energy supply and a decrease in the time cost of food. Thus, the evolution of how we produce and procure food was accompanied by an inflection in energy intake and expenditure, and a dietary transition that profoundly impacts health. Thus, this period was marked by an accelerated increase in body mass index worldwide, first evident in high-income countries and now globally ubiquitous, which disproportionally affects lower-income populations. While undernutrition persists, diet excesses and imbalances are increasing, and nutritional factors are now most of the leading causes of global death and disability worldwide, further widening global disparities. Moreover, these changes have significantly affected Earth’s land, water, and atmosphere, threatening the gains made thus far. In particular, animal food sources disproportionally impact the environment. Food systems will need to evolve to decrease and protect resources. And diets will need to improve, in ways that make them both healthy and sustainable. Correcting course will require reorienting and collectively focusing efforts on social, economic, technological, and educational changes that simultaneously promote adequate nutrition, human health, and the health of the planet.