Planetary Health Diet Index and risk of total and cause-specific mortality in three prospective cohorts

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

  • Linh P. Bui
  • Tung T. Pham
  • Fenglei Wang
  • Boyang Chai
  • Qi Sun
  • Frank B. Hu
  • Kyu Ha Lee
  • Guasch Ferre, Marta
  • Walter C. Willett

Background: In 2019, the EAT-Lancet Commission proposed a healthy dietary pattern that, along with reductions in food waste and improved agricultural practices, could feed the increasing global population sustainably. We developed a Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI) to quantify adherence to the EAT-Lancet reference diet. Objectives: We aimed to assess associations between PHDI and total and cause-specific mortality in 3 prospective cohorts of males and females in the United States. Methods: We followed 66,692 females from the Nurses’ Health Study (1986–2019), 92,438 females from the Nurses’ Health Study II (1989–2019), and 47,274 males from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986–2018) who were free of cancer, diabetes, and major cardiovascular diseases at baseline. The PHDI was calculated every 4 y using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using multivariable proportional-hazards models. Results: During follow-up, we documented 31,330 deaths among females and 23,206 among males. When comparing the highest with the lowest quintile of PHDI, the pooled multivariable-adjusted HRs were 0.77 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75, 0.80] for all-cause mortality (P-trend < 0.0001). The PHDI was associated with lower risk of deaths from cardiovascular diseases (HR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.81, 0.91), cancer (HR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.85, 0.95), respiratory diseases (HR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.59), and neurodegenerative diseases (HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.78). In females, but not males, the PHDI was also significantly associated with a lower risk of deaths from infectious diseases (HR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.51, 0.76). PHDI scores were also associated inversely with greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts. Conclusions: In 3 large United States-based prospective cohorts of males and females with up to 34 y of follow-up, a higher PHDI was associated with lower risk of total and cause-specific mortality and environment impacts.

Original languageEnglish
Book seriesAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Volume120
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)80-91
Number of pages12
ISSN0002-9165
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Society for Nutrition

    Research areas

  • diet pattern, mortality, planetary health diet, prospective cohort, sustainable diet

ID: 396939318